ACSA Region 6 Annual Conference 2026

The research is settled, but the implementation is just beginning. For administrators, the challenge isn’t just understanding the Science of Reading—it’s uniting a diverse staff around a shift in practice.

In this breakout session, we cut through the noise to provide a clear leadership framework for literacy reform. We will explore the critical difference between "mandating a program" and "guiding a shift," identifying the specific administrative moves that build collective efficacy. Learn how to audit your school for instructional silos, communicate the "why" to resistant staff, and align your resources for maximum impact. Leave with the executive clarity needed to turn a complex transition into a united movement for student success.

School leaders are facing unprecedented staffing challenges while simultaneously being asked to improve instruction and student outcomes. This session reframes substitutes, student teachers, and interns not as temporary solutions—but as an untapped leadership opportunity to grow our own educators.

Participants will explore practical, systems-based strategies to support and develop emerging teachers at every entry point—from substitute teachers to credential candidates—while strengthening instructional capacity across school sites and districts. Drawing from real-world leadership experiences and the Fruit Leadership Framework, this session highlights how intentional culture, coaching, and collaboration can transform short-term staffing into long-term talent pipelines.

This session is ideal for site and district administrators seeking to strengthen educator pipelines while fostering inclusive, growth-centered learning communities.

Rather than relying on short-term staffing fixes, OUESD launched a bold, equity-centered, multi-year strategy to grow, prepare, and retain educators from within the community. This session tells the story of OUESD’s Strategic Educator Pathways initiative—an integrated continuum that includes teacher and counselor residency programs, classified-to-certificated pathways, a forthcoming apprenticeship model, and district-led induction for teachers and administrators.
Participants will learn how OUESD leveraged state grants, higher education partnerships, and Board-aligned vision to move from planning to implementation—launching teacher and counselor residencies, creating robust mentoring structures, and embedding residents in classrooms through co-teaching and substitute models. The session will highlight early outcomes, including improved classroom stability, high resident and mentor satisfaction, and a growing pipeline of educators prepared to stay and serve.