This week, we sit down with Liz Norton, former middle school teacher and founder of Incessantly Relentless Leadership, for a conversation that zooms all the way out. Liz has seen education from every angle — classroom teacher, interventionist, literacy coach, district leader, state leader, and now systems consultant. And what she has learned about why change sticks — or doesn't — is something every educator and leader in this space needs to hear.

Three things from this conversation you won't forget:

• The spider web. Pull on one string of your system and the whole web moves. Understanding that interconnectedness is step one of any real change effort.
• Stop splatter painting. We buy programs out of hope, throw them at the wall, and when they don't stick, we change paint cans instead of asking why. Liz has a better way.
• The quality of data. Test scores tell a story — but the real story is the classroom where kids are having genuine dialogues about what they're reading and you can feel the energy the moment you walk in. That's what success looks like. That's what we're building toward.

To learn more about Liz's work, visit https://incessantlyrelentlessleadership.com/

Questions or want to connect? Reach out to melanie@storyshares.org