K12 CHANGE LAB
Helping K12 Schools Make Change That Sticks
WHY K12 CHANGE LAB
Making change in K12 schools has never been more important and, at the same time, more difficult. As the world changes, so must schools. Yet the work of school leaders and teachers is becoming more complex in our fast-moving moment of history. Change efforts often stall amidst the daily pressures of school.
Schools launch strategic plans with ambitious and transformative goals yet have less bandwidth than ever to move ahead on those goals. When a goal is not met, schools enter a frustrating cycle of investing more time and effort only to circle back to the same conversations. This cycle causes schools to lose momentum, time and money, and community trust.
The K12 Change Lab is designed to break the cycle of unfulfilled change by helping schools make efficient, effective, and long-lasting change. This yearlong program helps leaders identify the right team and then gives that team the necessary space and support to move ahead. We help schools gain momentum, and save time and money, by turning bold ideas into transformative results.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
World Leadership School has prototyped the K12 Change Lab through our work over the last decade with the K12 Purpose Summit, where we have helped teams launch a new middle school, design multiple advisory programs, and design learning through a frame of “thinking, feeling, and doing.” The K12 Change Lab deepens our K12 Purpose Summit process with more intensive coaching, site visits to each school, and a cohort-based learning model. In designing the K12 Change Lab, we listened to hundreds of leaders and teachers.
To begin the process, we work with each school to develop a question worth exploring and select the best possible team. We seek to build diverse teams with the necessary expertise, skills, and decision-making authority. We help teams explore their challenge through data, focus groups, and an AI-assisted literature review. We then support the team through a yearlong journey to design a solution, mobilize community support, implement the approach, and iterate based on continuous feedback. Our commitment is to “coach teams to completion.”
Teams gather in theme-specific cohorts at the 3-day K12 Purpose Summit at Georgetown Day School in Washington, DC.
Coaches hold the first school visit to observe classrooms, meet with school leadership, and work with the team.
Participating schools reflect on progress, celebrate wins, and troubleshoot challenges in a virtual summit (90 minutes).
Coaches hold the second school visit to help teams launch prototypes, gather feedback, assess results, and iterate.
All teams hold a second virtual gathering to celebrate all that has been accomplished and plan for what’s ahead.
Coaches meet with schools to establish goals and select the best possible team. Through action research, teams gain clarity on their challenge.
For the 2025-26 K12 Change Lab, teams so far have expressed interest in the following cohorts:
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Student Wellness: Building Equitable Character, Leadership, and Advisory Programs
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Experiential Learning: Connecting Classroom Learning to Our Communities
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Deeper Learning: Designing for Thinking, Feeling, and Doing
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Assessment: Making the Move to Standards-Based or Competency-Based Learning
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Faculty Wellbeing and Retention: Creating Systems and Supports for Educators
HOW DO COHORTS WORK?
Learning is relational, and teachers learn best from each other. Each team in the K12 Change Lab becomes part of a cohort of teams working on a similar challenge. Each cohort is coached by an expert in that theme, who helps teams share research, ideas, and learnings.
During our K12 Purpose Summit, members of each cohort create community by sharing stories and exploring purpose for themselves. They make site visits together to exemplary schools so they can experience the work of other innovative schools. Finally, teams work together to design a novel approach for their own school.
Following the summit, coaches make two visits to each cohort school to work with the team. During these visits, coaches can also run faculty workshops and hold parent meetings, as needed. Between site visits, coaches engage with the teams via virtual coaching in order to move through every step of the change process.
COST AND OTHER DETAILS
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K12 Change Lab is a non-profit initiative from World Leadership Foundation, and grant funding is available for public, charter, and smaller independent schools
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The cost is $15,000 per school
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Payments can be made across two school-year budgets
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Teams contain between 3-5 members
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K12 Change Lab is capped at 15 teams
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To register, email Jessica Catoggio at jessica@worldleadershipschool.com
Included in the Price
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Participation in the entire K12 Change Lab process for one school team of 3-5 people
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K12 Change Lab Summit at Georgetown Day School in Washington DC (October 4-6, 2025), including most meals and materials
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Virtual coaching throughout the program
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Two on-campus site visits from the team’s coach
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Presentations to parents and trustees
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Discounted faculty Purpose Launch Workshop while on-site
Not Included in the Program Price
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Travel expenses for faculty to and from the K-12 Change Lab Summit in Washington DC (travel, hotel, one dinner)
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Travel expenses for the coach during two site visits
