Name and Role with the Organization
Dr. Keli Swearingen, Senior Director for Michigan Partnerships, Leading Educators
Provide a brief overview of your organization and its primary goals.
Leading Educators is a national education nonprofit that supports school systems to develop the instructional leadership and teaching necessary for all students to thrive in a rapidly changing future.
Fewer than half of students are on track for college and career success. Thus, the scale of need in K-12 education demands systemic solutions—not band-aids or one-time programs—that fundamentally shift how a district or network provides effective instruction across classrooms.
We work with leaders to sharpen their vision and goals, consolidate competing priorities, and design the structures and coaching for educators to continuously learn and practice what they teach. By making schools places where students and teachers learn by design, we aim to elevate the quality and relevance of teaching that every student experiences.
How does the work being supported by the Steelcase Foundation support quality public education?
The future promises today’s young people new possibilities. But whether they can seize those opportunities depends on what and how well their educators teach them.
Educators enter the profession from a wide range of training and preparation backgrounds, and their professional growth opportunities can also vary widely once on the job. This leads to inconsistency in students’ learning experiences from classroom to classroom—even in the same school or even the same hallway.
We help educators work toward a common vision of excellence by delivering ongoing professional learning that’s tightly connected to a high-quality curriculum. We then reinforce this new learning with regular coaching. This leads to changes in teacher practice that have resulted in transformative results in our previous work in more than 30 cities since 2011.
Here in Michigan, our educator fellowship program initially supported Kent ISD educators in diagnosing where and why students were struggling in their reading. Rooted in the science of reading, we then helped these educators provide targeted support to address these gaps and improve students’ reading.
Now in Kelloggsville, Kenowa Hills, and Kentwood Public Schools, we are working with 32 school leaders to develop action-oriented coaching practices rooted in evidence-based literacy and math instruction. We work with those who coach to foster vulnerability and a learning mindset with their teachers, provide feedback on lesson plans, practice and model effective instruction, and observe and give feedback on classroom teaching.
Educators have welcomed this support. After a recent learning session, one participant shared, “[This] was such an amazing learning experience. While we were told we weren’t getting into the ‘how’ today, it does feel like we were shown ‘how’ to coach in many ways. I appreciate all the work the facilitators, Leading Educators, the district, and all the coaches are putting into this process.”
What is most challenging about furthering this mission at the present moment?
With student achievement still lagging pre-pandemic levels, school systems have less money with the end of ESSER and reductions in other federal spending. So, schools need to increase academic results with fewer resources. We need to invest in research-proven strategies that will build teachers’ and leaders’ capacity to teach students effectively. Programs can come and go, but a highly skilled education workforce can sustain student progress long-term.
That’s why our work in Michigan has focused so heavily on school leaders: when the broader environment is constantly in flux, principals can be a source of continuity close to the classroom and the community. If we can equip them to be the “principal educators” in their buildings and empower teachers to take on greater leadership, the team can accomplish more and maximize the influence that is within their control.
How is your organization responding?
Leading Educators is staying focused on what it takes to drive the highest-quality teaching and learning at scale and working to be more nimble in our ability to innovate quickly. Students still need and deserve strong literacy, math, and science instruction, well-prepared teachers, and the chance to work toward meaningful goals no matter what else is happening outside the classroom.
We are also piloting AI-enabled professional learning tools rooted in high-quality mathematics and ELA curriculum materials. If used well and intentionally, AI has the potential to increase teacher efficacy and efficiency and, perhaps, develop new ways to engage kids in learning. We are excited to continue exploring these emergent opportunities with educators in ways that center humanity.
How can the community help you in these efforts?
Get to know the academic and instructional priorities of your local school system. Support research-based investments that lead to demonstrated growth in student achievement. Advocate for expanding investments in things that have demonstrated results and stopping things that are not showing progress. Talk to educators about what they are facing and how you can help.
Is there anything else you’d like to lift-up about your organization and its work?
Real, significant progress is happening in Michigan every day! Our partners in Detroit have met their growth goal of increasing proficiency in reading by 10% on predictive assessments and exceeded expectations in mathematics. Two-thirds of cohort principals are now consistently implementing action-oriented coaching and data-informed leadership moves.
This spring, we launched an exciting new collaboration, the Michigan Inspired Teaching Teams Educator Network (MITTEN). Working alongside passionate educators and leading organizations – including the Michigan Educator Workforce Initiative, Next Education Workforce at Arizona State University, and the Center for Black Educator Development – we’re helping schools reimagine the teaching role and how teachers work together. The goal is to create strong, collaborative teaching teams where educators can share their strengths, specialize in what they do best, and support each other’s growth. At the same time, we’re working with schools to ensure instruction is guided by high-quality, research-based curriculum materials, so that all students benefit from lessons that are engaging, rigorous, and grounded in what works.
Meaningful progress takes time and a lot of unglamorous hard work. But every step forward matters.
