When Derek, Director of Curriculum at a large Texas school district, stepped into his district office last year after a very short summer vacation ready to take on the new school year as district math coordinator, he carried a notebook filled with plans, calendars, and sticky notes. Every school in the district had its own square. His goal was simple: reach them all.
“I thought equity meant being everywhere,” Derek later reflected. “If I could reach into every building, every PLC, every classroom at least once, then no one would be left out.”
For months, he and his team lived that plan. They raced between schools, facilitated one-off PD sessions, and squeezed in coaching cycles wherever possible and wherever requested. The effort was heroic, but unsustainable. Teachers and administrators appreciated the attention, but nothing seemed to stick. Walkthrough data showed little change in classroom practice. Student math achievement was stagnant.
“We were busy,” Derek admitted, “but we weren’t effective.”
The All-In Approach
Derek’s first plan cast the net wide. With over 600 teachers in the district, he insisted on offering everyone the same access: the same PD days, the same newsletters, the same drop-in coaching. The results looked equitable on paper—but in practice, they were thin.
It mirrored what Richard Elmore (2004) warned: instructional change happens “one teacher, one classroom at a time.” By trying to serve everyone, Derek was scattering seeds across rocky soil. Nothing took root.
A Bold Target — 100 Influencer Teachers
The turning point came when Derek encountered the concept of Bright Spots—teachers whose classrooms already embodied the district’s math vision. Inspired, he set a measurable key result:
“We will create 100 Influencer teachers this year.”
“I thought 100 was ambitious but reasonable,” he explained. “If we could get 100 classrooms to model our vision, surely the rest of the system would follow.”
Derek was on his way to creating Bright Spot classrooms.
As you can imagine, 100 teachers seem ambitious.
That’s when we helped Derek step back and examine what it actually takes to shift a teacher’s practice in a lasting way. Teachers don’t change simply because they attend a PD day or see a model lesson. They need to move through four stages of adoption:
- Alignment with a shared vision (the why).
- Opportunities to experience and observe the practice.
- Belief in their own ability to implement it.
- Ongoing coaching and support over time.
Research shows that this kind of deep, consistent support requires roughly 49 hours of sustained learning experiences before a teacher truly shifts their everyday strategies and pedagogy.
When Derek and his leadership team did the math, the picture changed. Supporting 100 teachers with all four adoption components—and the necessary hours —was impossible. They simply didn’t have the bandwidth.
As one coach admitted, “We looked at the schedule and thought, ‘There’s no way. We’ll burn out before Christmas.’”
The ambitious goal of 100 quickly revealed itself to be not only unrealistic, but also a recipe for repeating the same shallow, scattered approach that had already failed.
Derek and the team felt defeated. The evidence was there. Shifting every teacher or even 100 teachers was not going to happen.
Narrowing to 50
After some tough conversations, Derek cut the number in half.
“Landing on 50 felt uncomfortable,” Derek shared. “Part of me felt guilty—like I was abandoning the other teachers. But I realized we couldn’t do this halfway anymore. We had to go deep.”
Fifty was still ambitious, but the shift was dramatic. Every PD day was now designed with the Influencer cohort in mind. Each PLC cycle focused on subtraction strategies, discourse routines, and problem-solving. Coaches were scheduled for two consecutive days in Influencer classrooms every two weeks.
For the first time, the district’s professional learning plan had an anchor. Instead of scattering resources, everything pointed to the same group of teachers.
The Emotional Journey
This narrowing wasn’t just logistical—it was emotional. Derek described the tension:
- Excitement at the idea of 100 Bright Spots.
- Overwhelm when the plan proved impossible.
- Guilt when narrowing to 50 felt like leaving teachers behind.
- Relief when he saw visible traction for the first time.
- Pride as other teachers began to ask, “What’s happening in those classrooms?”
“I realized I didn’t have to reach every teacher directly,” Derek said. “By going deep with a few, the influence started to spread on its own.”
The Ripple Effect
For Derek, the real signs of progress weren’t abstract theories about diffusion — they were concrete wins he could see across his district. At the high school level, long-struggling 9th grade math classrooms were finally stabilizing. Teachers who once felt overwhelmed were now showing genuine interest in trying new strategies.
In PLCs, Derek saw a shift: “Teachers were doing the legwork between PLCs — they were coming prepared.” That preparation was a breakthrough, evidence that teacher leaders were stepping forward and beginning to own the work.
Momentum also showed up in numbers. When Derek first floated the idea of building an influencer cohort, he hoped a handful of teachers might sign up. Instead, 42 volunteered right away across both elementary and secondary. Principals, too, responded positively to his “roadshow” presentations, embracing the influencer model as a way to align their schools with the district’s math vision.
Even professional learning days began to feel different. After a high school session focused entirely on problem solving, Derek noted, “The feedback was exactly what they needed.” Teachers were energized, not just compliant.
These wins weren’t the ripple effect of some invisible force. They were the result of narrowing, aligning, and committing to support teachers deeply. The proof was in classrooms, PLCs, and teacher sign-up sheets — evidence that traction was building and belief was spreading.
Lessons for Leaders
Was 50 still too many? Derek now thinks so.
“Even 50 stretched us thin,” he admitted. “If I could go back, I’d probably start with 20. But the number isn’t the point. The point is commitment. Who are you going to support deeply enough to show real change?”
His journey illustrates a paradox that every district leader must embrace: limiting your reach multiplies your impact. Equity is not about giving everyone equal time. It’s about ensuring everyone eventually has access to growth—and that requires concentrated investment in visible proof points.
Key Takeaway for You
Derek summed it up best:
“The best way to help everyone is to stop trying to help everyone all at once. Go narrow. Go deep. That’s how you create Bright Spots.”
As you design your own objectives and key results, ask yourself:
- Who will be my Bright Spot teachers or classrooms this year?
- How many can I realistically support with depth?
- What supports (PD, PLCs, coaching) will I align to make their success inevitable?
Because once you create those Bright Spots, the ripple effect will take care of the rest.
