Writing

The doctorate, one project at a time.

Three and a half years, 17 courses, 299 assignments and one study on leadership style and teacher retention. I'm recapping that body of work here, project by project: what I studied, what surprised me, and what it looks like from the front line of adoption. Then we'll see where it goes.

• November 7, 2026The org chart and the hallwayEvery school runs on two maps, the official one a rollout plan is written for and the unofficial one where adoption actually spreads.
• October 31, 2026Stickers for stolen basesIn 2023 I wrote a paper about leading change using a team of 9-year-olds as my example, and they taught me to reward the behavior instead of the scoreboard.
• October 24, 2026Trust is the multiplierIn 2023 I wrote a paper on the math behind motivation. My argument was that the math only works if people believe the person handing them the numbers.
• October 17, 2026The catch-up periodIn 2023 I wrote a paper arguing that chaos is good for organizations. The sentence that mattered most was the warning I buried in the middle.
• October 10, 2026Making roomBefore I ever studied why change stalls in schools, I logged my own week in 30-minute blocks. The answer was already in the grid.
• October 3, 2026Good leadership wasn't enoughI spent three years studying why teachers leave. I expected to find bad leadership. I found good leadership and burnout in the same building.