Background
Led by Superintendent Dr. Gerry Washburn, Carlsbad Municipal Schools (CMS), located in Carlsbad, New Mexico, is at the forefront of rethinking instructional coaching. In 2023, CMS implemented Grow, Level Data’s unified coaching platform, as part of its Opportunity Culture® model. The goal was to create intentional school-level structures to support, grow, and retain excellent educators while ensuring every student has consistent access to high-quality teaching.
Grow provided CMS with a centralized infrastructure to digitize its coaching model, monitor progress in real time, and empower leaders at every level to make data-driven decisions that directly impact teacher retention and student achievement.
Carlsbad Municipal Schools At-a-Glance
- 7,624 students
- 7 Elementary Schools
- 2 Middle Schools
- 1 High School
- 2 Specialist Schools
- 23.3% Turnover Rate
The Challenge
Before adopting Grow, CMS faced the same challenges many districts encounter:
- Scattered and inconsistent coaching documentation like Google Docs, binders, folders, etc.
- Principals stretched too thin to provide meaningful instructional support.
- New and alternatively licensed teachers without consistent coaching.
- A lack of infrastructure to align district, campus, and classroom goals.
As Mindy Rogers, Director of Opportunity Culture®, explained:
“It’s impossible for principals to fully support every teacher instructionally, especially new or alternatively licensed teachers. Most teachers just don’t get the support they need in those first critical years.”
CMS needed a system to centralize coaching, strengthen distributed leadership, and provide accountability across its 12 schools, 450 teachers, and more than 7,000 students.
The Solution
CMS adopted Grow by Level Data to:
- Centralize coaching documentation and feedback in one platform.
- Provide real-time visibility for teachers, principals, and district leaders.
- Support distributed leadership through the Multi-Classroom Leaders® (MCLs) staffing model.
- Ensure coaching was aligned with frameworks like Get Better Faster and Teach Like a Champion.
By digitizing its coaching infrastructure, CMS was able to replace scattered notes and binders with one clear system of record. Teachers could see their progress over time, leaders could track patterns across classrooms and schools, and coaching conversations became grounded in consistent data. Instead of spending hours piecing together information, school leaders gained immediate access to the insights they needed to guide teachers more effectively.
Mindy emphasized the importance of starting with digital infrastructure:
“When I began building the program from the ground up in Carlsbad, I knew we needed Grow from the very beginning for accountability and tracking at both the district and campus level.”
Key Insights & Impact
Unifying Coaching Data Across the District
Grow eliminated inefficiencies from scattered Google Docs. Principals and district leaders can now pull instant reports to monitor PLC attendance, coaching cycles, and action step fidelity.
Mindy remarked, “Grow really changed things for us. Principals can run reports in minutes, and at the district level, I can see trends across every school. That kind of oversight wasn’t possible before.”
Distributed Leadership in Action
Through Opportunity Culture®, CMS empowered Multi-Classroom Leaders® to coach and lead teams of teachers.
- Principals gained time to focus on instructional leadership.
- New and alternatively licensed teachers received daily support.
- Veteran teachers advanced in leadership roles while still reaching students.
Mindy explained, “With Grow, our MCLs can focus on building teacher capacity while principals stay focused on leading instruction.”
Scalability and Sustainability
CMS scaled Opportunity Culture® from 3 schools to 7 schools in just two years, with plans to expand to 9 out of 12 schools by SY 26–27.
Teacher Retention & Student Growth
- CMS reported a 23.3% teacher turnover rate before Grow and Opportunity Culture® implementation. Early results show improved retention as teachers receive stronger support and leadership pathways.
- Teachers gained expanded career pathways, as the district grew from eight MCL™ and Master Teacher Team Reach™ roles to 29 in just two years, creating more opportunities for advancement and retention.
- Students who were in classrooms where teachers received consistent coaching through Grow achieved double the growth of their peers, with Median Growth Percentiles rising from the 20–30 range to above 40 in most classrooms.
Conclusion
By leveraging Grow, Carlsbad Municipal Schools created a coaching culture that is transparent, efficient, and sustainable. From distributed leadership to improved teacher retention, Grow has given CMS the infrastructure to track progress, scale innovation, and ensure every student benefits from consistent, high-quality instruction.
As Mindy summed it up:
Without Grow, we’d still be in Google Docs, and principals would be stuck in the weeds. With Grow, we have true distributed leadership, accountability, and the ability to support teachers at every level.
Level Data delivers standardized, validated, and seamlessly integrated information that turns scattered K-12 data into trusted insights. Our solutions empower district leaders and educators to measure progress, align resources, and focus on what matters most—student success.
