Doug Lemov's field notes

Our Consulting & Partnerships team works alongside schools, districts, and foundations to accelerate teacher and leader development and improve student achievement. One example is our four-year partnership with the Bluum Foundation in Idaho to support a collaborative of charter schools. Through that work, we’ve partnered closely with Gem Prep Charter Schools, a growing network serving more than 3,300 students.

The results have been striking. Since beginning our partnership, Gem Prep cut average suspensions from August through November by 50 percent, while classroom discipline referrals fell by 79 percent. Notably, these gains occurred without any changes to Gem Prep’s behavior or suspension policy. At the same time, academic outcomes improved: Gem Prep students’ NWEA growth rose from the 49th percentile in 2022–23 to the 60th percentile in 2025–26, moving from slightly below average to above-average growth nationally.^[1]

Gem Prep’s senior leaders attribute this progress to clarity and alignment, achieved through the sustained execution of their Arc of the Year. An Arc of the Year defines instructional priorities, teacher actions, and measurable student outcomes across key points in the school year.  Rather than changing behavior policies, Gem Prep focused on strengthening classroom execution. We supported leaders to offer systematic training on basic culture building and expectation reinforcement, including What to Do Directions and Least Invasive Interventions. These techniques helped teachers to resolve common disruptions predictably and sustainably.

“The takeaway is simple: when you invest in the learning environment,  you set the stage for academic results to follow.”

Arc of the Year: A Foundation for Consistency

For the past three years, Gem Prep has used their Arc of the Year as a “North Star” for professional development, classroom walkthroughs, and instructional coaching. Our partnership began with “Arc 1: Culture Foundations” providing a shared, research-based set of practices, ensuring classroom expectations were clearly defined and consistently implemented across schools.  

Now in the third year of implementation, leaders are seeing the impact of this alignment.

 “The Arc changed the classroom environment—it gave everyone a sense of security and belonging. You feel it when you walk into classrooms; things feel calm and focused. Teachers say they actually have time to teach.”

— Laurie Wolfe, Chief Academic Officer

Our sessions equipped leaders with turnkey professional development that helped teachers script, practice, and refine classroom routines aligned to the Arc. Leaders used these shared practices during training, walkthroughs, and coaching —creating a common language for strong instruction.

Laurie attributes much of the early success to the time teachers spent scripting and rehearsing routines at the start of the year. That clarity reduced cognitive load for both teachers and students—creating more space for relationships, learning, and independence.

“When expectations are clear and consistently reinforced, students can focus on learning instead of guessing what comes next.”

– Laurie Wolfe

Heather Parsons and John Pearce, Gem’s Principal Managers, echoed this point, noting that the consistency helped students self-regulate and become more self-directed.

Lessons Learned: What Made the Difference

After three years of Arc implementation, Gem Prep leaders reflected on the practices that most contributed to their sustained reduction in referrals and suspensions:

• Create Shared Understanding: Before teachers can thrive, leaders need to align on what best practice looks like, what it’s called, and when it’s used. Our partnership helped to provide a shared instructional language that helped leaders calibrate quickly and support consistent classroom execution.
• Train and Practice: Professional development that models best practices—and created time for rehearsal—was essential. Turnkey professional development supported intentional practice, helping teachers internalize routines rather than simply comply with expectations.
• Coach Intentionally: A shared coaching tool and common rubric ensures leaders are aligned on strengths and growth areas. Our partnership had a dual focus on introducing techniques and studying and responding to implementation. This allowed Gem leaders’ coaching conversations to be concrete, actionable, and consistent across schools.

We are proud to have contributed to Gem Prep’s impressive results, and recognize that there are many factors that lead to student achievement growth.  What is undoubtedly true is that the credit belongs to the leaders and teachers across the organization. Their commitment to their students and families has made this work possible.

Want to learn more about our work in Idaho or partner with us? We’d love to connect! Contact us here.

^[1] NWEA MAP’s Conditional Growth Percentile (CGP) is a nationally normed measure that compares students’ progress to that of academically similar peers across the country.. A CGP of 50 represents typical national growth, while scores above 50 indicate students are growing faster than expected. In the 2022-23, the network’s growth percentile was slightly below the national benchmark (49th percentile). This year, Gem Prep  is now growing faster than about 60% of similar students nationwide.