With a growing demand to address the post-pandemic needs of students and educators and the Administration’s continued commitment to advancing efforts in promoting equity and supporting educators, Teach to Lead hosted a spring summit to once again convene P-12 school districts and their partners to engage in similar work. Students’ NAEP scores have seen the worst decline in two decades, more teachers are choosing to leave the profession, and fewer candidates are entering teacher preparation programs. States, regions, and school districts that are designing innovative ways to support the needs of students and staff, to attract and retain effective and diverse educators, and to strengthen systems and practices that improve academic outcomes for all students were encouraged to submit applications.

In the spring of 2023, 20 teams representing 13 states from across the country, were selected to attend the Teach to Lead Summit in Atlanta, Georgia. Each of the accepted teams proposed projects that demonstrated a high likelihood of success and aligned with one of the four event strands:

• supporting educators in academic recovery and raising the bar for every student, 
• increasing teacher collaboration time to improve student learning experiences,  
• supporting a culture of educator wellness and belonging, or  
• strengthening and diversifying the educator workforce. 

Over the course of the three-day event, teams received support from 20 “critical friends” who represented six Regional Comprehensive Centers, the School Ambassador Fellowship Program, and the U.S. Department of Education. Teams engaged in facilitated activities designed to clearly define a problem of practice and identify specific root causes to more effectively plan strategies and activities that, when implemented, will lead to positive outcomes for students, staff, and schools. Teams were encouraged to “trust the process” as they engaged in consultancies with their critical friends and peer teams to fully conceive a theory of change that can be operationalized through a logic model. The Gallery Walk on Day 3 provided teams with a chance to showcase their work and pitch their projects to an audience of peers, critical friend experts, and representatives from the U.S. Department of Education. Spring teams were creative and brought a high level of energy and enthusiasm.