6 Takeaways from Our Power of Prioritization Webinar

In our recent Power of Prioritization webinar, we dove deep into setting clear, actionable instructional priorities to drive student success. Here are the six key takeaways to guide your next steps in prioritizing initiatives and using data effectively:

1. A Strong Initiative Starts with a Clear Strategy  

A well-defined initiative is essential for guiding teaching and learning. It ensures that instructional priorities are aligned with the school's or district's broader goals, creating a clear roadmap for success. When everyone understands the strategy, focusing on what matters most for student achievement becomes easier.

Keep initiatives limited and aligned to your educators' capacity and resources to keep efforts manageable. An aligned and coherent strategy is the key to making data actionable.

2. Focus on Equity – Understand the Needs of Your Most Marginalized Students

Effective prioritization requires a deep understanding of your most vulnerable students. To truly serve them, schools must also consider the needs of their staff, including experience, mindset, and access to resources. Aligning instructional priorities with these needs ensures that every student receives the support they deserve.

This is a great step to take during the planning phase of your continuous improvement structure.

3. Using Criteria to Reduce Initiatives

Reducing the number of initiatives allows schools to focus on what truly matters. Before cutting initiatives, ensure these criteria are met:

• Sufficient staff to execute the initiative effectively
• Adequate time allocated for managing the change
• Capacity, bandwidth, and resources to sustain progress
• Grounding in the needs of students who require the most support

Make sure to analyze initiatives with a growth mindset instead of a deficit mindset. You want to make sure your initiatives are targeted, manageable, and growth-oriented. Streamlining efforts this way guarantees that students benefit from a focused, actionable plan.

4. Developing Effective Instructional Priorities  

When setting instructional priorities, it's essential to:

• Define the specific shifts you expect to see in student experience and outcomes
• Connect the priority directly to academic content and practice
• Use quality, equitable data that is measurable and actionable

These actions ensure your priorities are directly tied to student success and progress. These steps are the foundation of our coaching experiences.

5. Common Prioritization Pitfalls to Avoid  

Schools often face challenges when monitoring priorities. Some common mistakes include:

• Monitoring data without acting on it
• Collecting too much data without a clear purpose
• Failing to define who uses the data and for what purpose
• Treating priorities as linear, when they often require flexibility

Sometimes, assessments can be a key to avoiding these pitfalls. When you view assessments differently, you can avoid these pitfalls and help drive meaningful action for students.

6. Use Equitable Data for Actionable Insights 

• Use timely data focused on grade-level outcomes
• Ensure assessment tools are high-quality and free of bias
• Make data reports usable for all stakeholders, including students
• Focus on whether the data is benefiting your most marginalized populations

Key Lessons for Prioritization

- A strong initiative results in a clear strategy that guides teaching and learning.

- Instructional priorities must work for both your system and schools.

- Avoid common pitfalls like monitoring without acting on data or not defining clear roles for data use.

By focusing on these six key areas, your school can prioritize effectively and ensure that every student benefits from focused, equitable initiatives. Use our Ready for Progress Pulse Check resource to help align your priorities. 

Access our Power of Prioritization Webinar on-demand by using this link here.