Principal Evan Markowitz and Assistant Principal Danielle Dudley generously share their journey—a nearly decade-long effort to move away from ineffective instructional practices and toward a thriving culture of student engagement. One of the key themes from their story is the importance of building internal capacity. Through Kagan workshops, Kagan Coaching, and participation in the Kagan Instructional Leadership Academy, they not only developed their own leadership but also cultivated instructional leaders from within their team. With thoughtful, sustained implementation planning and a strong commitment to doing what’s best for students, they demonstrate that meaningful change doesn’t happen overnight—but it does happen with vision, perseverance, and intentional support systems.

In this installment of the Kagan Implementation Network Webinar Series, we sit down with Dr. Mike Winters. Dr. Winters is now a superintendent, and formerly served as a district leader as well as principal at two schools where he implemented Kagan Cooperative Learning at scale. In both schools, Dr. Winters led a remarkable transformation, taking schools from underperforming to A-rated. He shares the leadership moves, strategic decisions, and hands-on approaches that made the difference, offering practical insights you can adapt to drive successful implementation in your own school or district.