And What Else?

On By LaurenMKaufmanIn 1. Mission, Vision, and Core Values, 10. School Improvement, 2. Ethics and Professional Norms, 3. Equity and Cultural Responsiveness, 4. Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, 5. Community of Care and Support for Students, 7. Professional Community for Teachers and StaffLeave a comment

Recently I sat in a classroom where high school students were presenting a group project. They had just read Julius Caesar and were comparing some of the main themes with other historical themes that have transpired in our world. I was excited to see students standing in front of the classroom not only bringing a …

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Listening. Learning. Leading.

On By LaurenMKaufmanIn 1. Mission, Vision, and Core Values, 2. Ethics and Professional Norms, 6. Professional Capacity of School Personnel, 7. Professional Community for Teachers and StaffLeave a comment

Recently, I was having a conversation with a group of leaders and was asked some of the ways I approach listening, learning, and leading. I love the way the three words were organized in this question. As a leader, many may think that you have to lead first in order to listen and learn. However, …

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Leading Doesn’t Keep Score

On By LaurenMKaufmanIn 1. Mission, Vision, and Core Values, 2. Ethics and Professional Norms, 5. Community of Care and Support for Students, 7. Professional Community for Teachers and Staff2 Comments

I was scrolling through social media the other day when I came across this quote: “Something I’ve thought about a lot: the people who helped me the most never asked for anything in return. And because of that, I’ve wanted to do more for them than I would have if they’d kept score. Generosity without …

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Here to Teach

On By LaurenMKaufmanIn 1. Mission, Vision, and Core Values, 10. School Improvement, 2. Ethics and Professional Norms, 5. Community of Care and Support for Students, 6. Professional Capacity of School Personnel, Professional Standards For Educational Leaders1 Comment

As a K–12 district leader, there are weeks filled with meetings and unexpected projects that pull time away from other spaces. These responsibilities matter. Schools are complex learning ecosystems, and leadership requires us to be responsive to what each moment calls for. Still, the spaces that always feel the most magical to me are classrooms. …

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Simple Moves, Significant Thinking

On By LaurenMKaufmanIn 1. Mission, Vision, and Core Values, 4. Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, 5. Community of Care and Support for Students, 6. Professional Capacity of School Personnel, Portrait of a Graduate, Professional Standards For Educational Leaders

In education we live in a sea of choices and resources. Each day can bring a new strategy to consider, a digital platform to explore, or a framework to unpack. As educators, we care deeply about getting it right for our students, so we read, we listen, and we reflect on what will continue to …

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Three Definitions of Confidence (And Why They Matter in Schools)

On By LaurenMKaufmanIn 1. Mission, Vision, and Core Values, 2. Ethics and Professional Norms, 3. Equity and Cultural Responsiveness, 6. Professional Capacity of School Personnel

In my last blog post of 2025, I wrote a piece titled Five Lessons I’m Carrying Forward. The first lesson I shared was this: Confidence isn’t certainty. It’s comfort with failure. Teaching and leading ask us to learn in public. Lessons may not always land.Conversations may feel messy before they feel productive. Priorities may need …

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Lighting the Way For Others

On By LaurenMKaufmanIn 1. Mission, Vision, and Core Values, 2. Ethics and Professional Norms, 5. Community of Care and Support for Students, 7. Professional Community for Teachers and Staff

Think back to the mentors who have crossed your path, lighting the way at different moments in your life. Some stayed for years. Some appeared for a season. Some may not even realize the impact they had. Who first saw the gift in you? Not your position. Not the accomplished version of you. Not the …

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Nothing Feels All the Way Right in the Beginning

On By LaurenMKaufmanIn 2. Ethics and Professional Norms, 6. Professional Capacity of School Personnel, 7. Professional Community for Teachers and Staff2 Comments

Last year, I stepped into a journey I wasn’t sure, at one time, was in my future. I became a doctoral student. It’s the first time I’m writing about it, not because it hasn’t mattered, but because I hadn’t yet given myself permission to name it. That first semester was filled with internal questions. How …

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Inside the Student Work

On By LaurenMKaufmanIn 1. Mission, Vision, and Core Values, 4. Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, 5. Community of Care and Support for Students, 6. Professional Capacity of School Personnel, 7. Professional Community for Teachers and Staff

We were sitting together, teachers gathered around student work from a newly designed performance assessment. The task asked students to engage in a deep study of character in literature. Instead of a single written response, students were given multiple pathways to show their thinking through a multimedia performance assessment. Students could write, speak, design, create, …

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