The Leadership Practices Behind a 20-Point Gain in One Year
When the 2024 TEA accountability ratings were released, our elementary campus earned a 59—an F rating under the state’s accountability system.
The score wasn’t surprising. Student performance had been declining, and the data reflected what many of us already knew: too many students were not achieving at the levels they were capable of reaching.
As principal, it would have been easy to spend the year chasing programs and quick fixes. Instead, we focused on something much harder—and ultimately more impactful.
We focused on changing adult practices and creating a culture where great teaching was expected, supported, and celebrated.
One year later, our campus earned a 79, increasing 20 points in a single accountability cycle and moving from an F to a C. While the accountability gain was significant, the most important lesson from that year was not about ratings. It was about leadership.
The experience reinforced a belief that continues to guide my work today: adult practices drive student outcomes.
One of the first things we established was a culture of transparency. From a candidate’s first interview to daily work on campus, expectations, support, and accountability were communicated clearly and consistently. Teachers knew what strong instruction looked like, how they would be supported, and how feedback would be provided.
Just as important, we intentionally built a culture of celebration. Great teaching, growth, and successes were celebrated publicly and often. Accountability provided the foundation, but joy, recognition, and what I call “loud appreciation” built the trust needed to sustain improvement.
That culture extended to our data and classrooms. Campus, grade-level, teacher, and student subgroup results were openly shared because student achievement belongs to all of us. Staff regularly visited classrooms. Successes were celebrated. Challenges were discussed openly. We worked hard to create a culture that viewed students as our kids, not my kids and your kids.
One of the biggest lessons from our turnaround year came through our PLC process. We still analyzed data because data matters. However, we stopped treating spreadsheets and charts as the work. The real work became collaboratively planning high-quality instruction before it reached students.
Administrators participated in those conversations alongside teachers. The focus shifted from diagnosing failure to designing success. We found that when we spent more time improving lessons before they were taught, we spent far less time trying to fix learning afterward.
Alignment walks became an important part of our improvement efforts. Administrators conducted brief grade-level classroom visits, sharing trends and observations with teams to strengthen instructional consistency.
Perhaps our most significant instructional shift was recommitting to strong Tier 1 instruction. We prioritized academic discourse, writing across content areas, and goal accomplishment across every grade level. Teachers intentionally created opportunities for students to explain their thinking, write about their learning, and monitor progress toward academic goals. We challenged ourselves to ensure students—not devices, slides, or programs—were doing the thinking.
The 20-point gain was not the result of a silver bullet. It was the result of clear expectations, transparent systems, collaborative planning, strong Tier 1 instruction, and relentless accountability.
Today, I serve as principal at another elementary campus within our district and am preparing to begin this work again. While the students, staff, and challenges are different, the lesson remains the same: school improvement happens when leaders create the conditions for great teaching to thrive. When adult practices improve, student outcomes follow.
Dr. Sarah Thornell is an elementary principal in Northwest ISD. She has 20 years of experience as a teacher, instructional leader, and campus administrator. Throughout her career, she has led campus improvement efforts centered on teacher growth, instructional effectiveness, and collective responsibility for student success. Her work is grounded in the belief that sustainable student achievement occurs when strong culture and high-quality instruction work together.
