April 23, 2026

Dear Educator,

This week, Devin and I spent time with Hawai‘i’s charter school leaders as they showcased their mission-aligned impact. Over the past three years, we’ve partnered with these leaders to clarify their purpose, align meaningful metrics, and build scorecards that bring their values to life—moving beyond a single standardized test score to tell a fuller, more accurate story of how they are developing their haumāna.

What has stood out most in this work is not just the data, but the people behind it.

With Gratitude,

Celebrating Contagious Growth in Hawaii's Charter Schools

I watched leaders celebrate the growth and learning of their students, share projects with pride, and engage in meaningful conversations with peers, students, commissioners, and community members. There was a noticeable shift in how they were articulating their goals, their impact, and the skills their students are building every day.

Celebrations of learning aren’t just for students—they matter deeply for adults, too. This week was a reminder that when leaders have the tools and space to reflect, share, and connect their work to purpose, their confidence and clarity grow. And that growth is contagious. It shapes how they lead, how they communicate, and ultimately, how they create conditions for young people to thrive.

What are you celebrating as the academic year winds down? It is always a privilege to step back with our partners and reflect on their year of growth. I'd love to hear about the highlights from your community, and what makes those areas of growth so special for you and your team! Simply reply to this email with your reflections (I read every response I get 🙂).

The Learner-Centered Collaborative Scorecard Guide provides a 4-step process for creating, implementing, and leveraging Scorecards to drive improvement, engage stakeholders, and showcase your school or district’s unique success story in a learner-centered paradigm. Download the guide here.

Resources to advance your learner-centered practice

🎙️ Authentic Learning in Action—Projects, Curiosity, and Classroom Joy. "In this podcast episode, Katie Martin is joined by her husband, Matt Martin, a high school chemistry teacher at High Tech High. Together, they explore what it means to design authentic, learner-centered experiences in the classroom." Listen to the full episode here.

🎯 Classroom Strategy: Cooperative Learning Strategies. "Cooperative learning strategies, often called Kagan strategies, are low-lift and low-risk ways for students to engage with each other while learning. They are structured ways to break up a direct instruction lesson and ask students to process information collaboratively." Gain inspiration from these ideas.

📖 The Future of the Educator. "In collaboration with five other organizations, Learner-Centered Collaborative was honored to contribute to a one-of-a-kind publication exploring The Future of the Educator. Six organizations share the futures they imagine, offer reflections on each other's ideas, and reflect on the feedback they receive on their own essays." Explore the ideas here.