Are you watering the grass or the fire?
How to Tell If Your School Improvement Strategy Is Nourishing Growth or Fueling Burnout
In recent years, we've seen the devastation that wildfires can bring—entire communities uprooted, landscapes scorched, lives forever changed. It’s easy to focus on the flames. But anyone who studies fires will tell you: the real story starts long before the spark.
The story starts with the climate.
The soil.
The conditions we’ve allowed to take hold over time.
Schools are no different.
When we talk about school improvement, we often rush toward what feels urgent—low scores, lagging growth, public pressure. We grab the hose and start spraying. But if we don’t pause to examine the climate we’ve created, we risk pouring all our energy into extinguishing symptoms while the root causes smolder beneath.
Wildfires and Reform: A Cautionary Parallel
Reforms driven by pressure—standardized test prep, punitive evaluation systems, rushed mandates—can feel like responsible responses. They're loud, fast, and aimed directly at visible flames. But over time, they dry out the very ground we’re trying to cultivate.
Top-down approaches tend to:
Reduce curiosity to compliance.
Treat coaching as correction instead of connection.
Rely on external rewards and threats instead of internal motivation.
Leave educators feeling isolated, under siege, and exhausted.
It’s no wonder that schools caught in this kind of climate struggle to sustain growth. Like brittle brush in a drought, they ignite quickly but recover slowly.
Coaching as Climate Care: Moistening the Soil
Here’s what wildfire prevention experts know: If the land is healthy and moist, fires are less likely to spread.
If the roots run deep, the ground holds water, and the ecosystem is balanced, even intense heat can be withstood.
That’s the role of coaching in schools. It’s not just about feedback. It’s about shaping a healthier climate.
Coaching nourishes the soil by:
Restoring trust and relational safety.
Creating space for reflection and risk-taking.
Helping educators reconnect with their purpose.
Building deep roots of collaboration and curiosity.
When the soil is healthy, we don’t have to fear every spark.
Leaders can lead without controlling.
Teachers can grow without burning out.
Students can engage without being coerced.
What the Research Shows Us
McREL’s The Road Less Traveled and McKinsey’s How the World’s Most Improved School Systems Keep Getting Better both point toward the same truth:
Sustainable school improvement grows from the inside out.
The most effective systems focus less on compliance and more on improving instructional practice.
Growth happens faster when the climate supports collaboration, trust, and internal motivation.
Progress stalls when the only tools we use are pressure and prescription.
Improvement doesn’t come from fire-fighting. It comes from climate work—from shifting conditions (and trust).
Are you watering the grass or the fire?
When we’re under stress, it’s easy to respond to heat with more heat. But long-term, what matters most is what kind of ground we’re cultivating.
Are you building a system where curiosity can take root? Or where empowerment and ownership is a priority?
Are your teachers growing stronger and more connected over time?
Are your leaders gardeners—or firefighters?
If we want resilience, we have to stop reacting to flames and start restoring the forest.
We need practices that moisten the ground, restore trust, and deepen roots.
We need coaching that listens more than it tells.
We need leadership that stewards—not scorches—the path forward.
Thank you to my colleague, Katy Jimenez, lead shenanigator and all around amazing human for the inspiration.