Over the past two decades, a shift has taken root in educational leadership across Connecticut. Rather than chasing silver-bullet solutions or top-down mandates, a growing group of district leaders has embraced something simple but profoundly effective: the power of another set of eyes.
The practice of stepping back, inviting peers in, and reflecting honestly on what’s working—and what’s not—has become a cornerstone of district improvement. What began in the early 2000s as a loose gathering of superintendents committed to mutual learning has evolved into a robust, research-based approach to reflection, leadership, and system-wide coherence.
The Origin of Instructional Rounds
This movement’s roots can be traced to the influence of the late Richard Elmore, a Harvard professor who championed instructional leadership. Inspired by Elmore’s work, Connecticut superintendents began visiting each other’s schools—not to evaluate, but to observe. These visits weren’t compliance checks; they were collaborative, focused, and grounded in trust.
Over time, this approach became formalized into Instructional Rounds, where a group of superintendents or educators visits a school together, observes instruction through a shared lens, and debriefs to surface patterns and questions. The goal is not to judge, but to learn—both for the host school and the observers. With support from Elmore, Partners originally formed the Connecticut Superintendents’ Network—one of the first beta sites where Instructional Rounds were piloted and refined.
“We weren’t just talking about leadership,” recalled Bob Villanova, a PEL associate who worked with Elmore and helped start the Superintendents’ Network. “We were out in each other’s schools, seeing it in real time. That changed everything.”
From Rounds to Reviews: Creating a Structure for Systemwide Reflection
This spirit of peer learning inspired the development of a more formal, structured process: the Coherence and Capacity Review. Led by Partners, the review gives district leaders a way to examine their systems through fresh eyes—those of experienced peers who understand the complexities of district leadership.
Unlike traditional consultants, Partners’ review team is made up of seasoned superintendents, and an eclectic team of educators–former superintendents, researchers, coaches, analysts–who have a well-practiced tradition of gathering objective data to identify patterns and trends. These team members are familiar with the work and know how to ask the right questions without casting judgment.
“It was never about objectivity or gotchas,” Villanova emphasized. “It was about perception, coherence, and the real lived experiences of people in the system.” Richard Lemons, Executive Director of Partners, and one of the original architects of the framework and process, notes, “Our focus is to tap into the voices of educators, observations of practice, and organizational artifacts to support the district in seeing that it contains within itself the answers and resources needed to answer the question: “What is our current capacity to bring about the improvement we are seeking?”
Today, the Coherence and Capacity Review is a core offering of Partners and has been embraced by a variety of districts, including Vernon, Milford, Norwalk, Waterbury, Bloomfield, and more.
For some, it supports a new leader’s entry. For others, it helps sharpen an evolving strategy. In all cases, it brings clarity to the work.
Villanova explains that many superintendents, while managing essential operations, miss the deeper work of system building. “You can’t survive without budgets, buildings, and buses,” he says. “But that’s not all the work.” He argues that the superintendent’s role has evolved. Now, he says, it’s also about creating the conditions for all people within the system to thrive.
Seeing What’s Hidden in Plain Sight
In the politically charged, fast-moving world of public education, leaders are pulled in competing directions and often forced to make decisions with incomplete information.
That’s where an outside set of eyes makes the difference.
Unlike conventional consultancies that bring in prepackaged solutions, the Coherence and Capacity Review starts with listening. Through stakeholder interviews, focus groups, document reviews, and school visits, the PEL team gathers insights from across the system—students, educators, parents, even mayors and custodians.
“We’re looking to understand what people see as important and what they’re working on,” says Elizabeth Osga, a PEL consultant and former superintendent. “We never approach it as, ‘What’s the problem?’ It’s always, ‘What’s the next level of work?’”
The results are presented not as judgments but as descriptive feedback organized in a clear, research-based framework. The central question is simple: Here’s what we saw—what do you think?
This reflective approach opens the door to honest conversations that bring about creative solutions. It challenges assumptions, surfaces blind spots, and fosters a culture of curiosity over defensiveness.
Community-Informed Change
One of the greatest strengths of this model is its ability to engage a large and diverse set of community members to join together and work toward common goals.
In Vernon, Superintendent Joseph Macary used the Coherence and Capacity Review to inform strategic shifts that resulted in improved student outcomes. “It allowed me to cut through the noise and really see what our district needed,” he says. “Not what was politically convenient, not what was being demanded from one loud voice, but what the data and the people actually said.”
The process is especially valuable for new superintendents, who often enter districts in midstream—navigating legacy plans, community expectations, and urgent challenges. When Alexandra Estrella was newly appointed the Superintendent of Norwalk Public Schools, the review became a central part of her entry plan. It helped her understand the district’s strengths and challenges and build trust with stakeholders—without pausing progress that was already underway. Her approach was then data-informed, community-centered, and future-focused. The review gave her a map, not a mandate—one grounded in real voices and real needs.
Estrella recognizes that asking people to speak honestly in such a review involves trust and can make some people feel vulnerable. She says that is why it’s important to start by seeing and valuing what the community has that is positive. Building on that strength, they can then look together at a problem of practice.
“We have to always remember that we’re in the business of developing lifelong learners,” Estrella says. “This is what we keep reiterating to our scholars, so we have a responsibility to model what we ask of them– that it’s okay to be vulnerable when you are learning and growing.”
Reflection as a Leadership Practice
As more district leaders experience the benefits of disciplined reflection, many choose to repeat the review every few years. Rather than a one-time diagnostic, it becomes a cycle of continuous improvement—a way to realign vision, strategy, and action amid inevitable changes in leadership, policy, and context.
Partners sees this work not as a disruption, but as elevation.
“We don’t show up with all the answers,” says Executive Director Richard Lemons. “We show up as colleagues who ask the right questions, listen deeply, and hold up a clear mirror. That’s what systems need most. Not noise, but clarity. Not judgment, but truth. And not easy fixes, but courageous reflection.”
This work affirms what Elmore, Villanova, and so many others have championed from the beginning: that good leadership matters, and that the best leaders are the ones willing to pause, reflect, and learn in public.
From instructional rounds to systemwide reviews, Connecticut’s educational leaders are modeling a powerful idea that can feel brave in times like ours—that honest, out-in-the-open collaboration leads to better schools. Sometimes, inviting in another set of eyes can be the most powerful leadership move of all.
To learn more about systems reviews, please contact Jerry Belair at jbelair@partnersforel.org
