#410 – Navigating Change in K–12 Education, with Michael McCormick

In this episode of Unpacking Education, we sit down with Michael McCormick, Superintendent in Residence at AVID Center, to explore what it really takes to lead through change in today’s educational landscape. With over three decades of experience—from juvenile probation to classroom teaching to district leadership—Michael shares insights from his personal journey and digs into practical change theory for schools.

Tune in to hear why understanding your “North Star” matters, how technology can empower rather than overwhelm, and what systems-level shifts can help educators stay grounded amid rapid transformation.” Regardless of your role—be it in the classroom or at the district level—you’ll leave with thoughtful strategies to help navigate the evolving world of K–12 education.

Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.

John C. Maxwell, author and speaker

Resources

The following resources are available from AVID and on AVID Open Access to explore related topics in more depth:

• Benefits of the AVID Program: Results of a UCLA Study, with Dr. Rebecca Dudovitz (podcast episode)
• An Innovator’s Mindset: Empowering Students and Educators, with George Couros (podcast episode)
• Lead From Where You Are, with Dr. Joe Sanfelippo (podcast episode)
• Recalibrate the Culture, with Jimmy Casas (podcast episode)

Follow Your “North Star”

Facing change in education can be daunting, but it becomes more manageable when you’re guided by your core purpose. In this episode, Michael McCormick highlights the importance of knowing and aligning with your North Star. “If you’re grounded in a North Star for your school system, then you’re not likely to #squirrel and get off track by the next shiny object,” he says.

This theme of anchoring change in shared purpose weaves through the conversation, from empowering teacher voices to implementing intentional technology solutions. Michael reminds us that change is emotional, especially when educators have poured their hearts into existing systems. “We need to lovingly get them to release the emotional attachment they have . . . so they can move into the emergent system.” His advice: Lead with empathy, include everyone at the table, and make sure that your direction is crystal clear. The following are highlights from the episode.

• About Our Guest: Michael McCormick is the Superintendent in Residence at AVID Center. He has spent his career as a classroom teacher and school administrator. For the last decade, he served as Superintendent at Val Verde Unified School District in the Inland Empire of Southern California, a district of about 20,000 students.
• Career Trajectory: Michael’s career in education began when he was working in maximum security in juvenile hall. His supervisor at the time said to him, “Why don’t you go back to school, get your teaching credential, and see if you can have a positive impact on youth before they get tangled up in the juvenile justice system?” Michael took the advice and began his journey in education.
• Small-World Moment: Some of Michael’s former students ended up in education as well. In fact, one of the students from his first year in teaching became the AVID Coordinator at the elementary school where Michael started in the profession.
• Change Theory: Michael describes this theory as “the mindset that’s required to move from a current state to a desired future state, then improve student outcomes.”
• Garden Analogy: Michael shares an analogy to explain change theory. “I think the best way I could describe this is by kind of thinking about this in terms of like a school garden. You don’t just throw the seeds out there and expect instant results. First, you kind of have to prepare the soil. . . . Then comes the planting and the nurturing, and that’s where new practices, supports, and learning get to take root. But if you want those plants to thrive long term, you need the right climate, consistent care, and time, and that’s sustaining that change over time.”
• Tinkering Toward Utopia: Michael references the book Tinkering Toward Utopia: A Century of Public School Reform, written by David Tyack and Larry Cuban. He summarizes their work, saying, “They describe it as the grammar of schooling. And the grammar of schooling is this idea that we all know what school should look like and feel like, and we’ve gotten used to that. And we’ve got generations of educators who have gotten used to that pull of the grammar of schooling, which kind of tries to maintain the status quo and resist that change. . . . And so, it takes a tremendous amount of energy to enact something different.”
• A Time of Change: Michael reflects, “I think about my career in education, and I think about the technology developments that have come, and I think what an incredible time to be alive.” He began his career before email and the internet, and now sees the integration of AI. He adds, “This represents the exponential change in some ways that I’ve been blessed to live through in my education career.”
• The Arena Floor: Michael cites the work of Brené Brown, saying, “You’ve got people that are sitting in the balcony shouting wisdom and advice to you, and we know in education that unless you’re on the arena floor in battle,” you don’t truly understand what’s happening. He adds, “This is an extremely emotional and challenging time for us because the future is more uncertain and more ambiguous than it’s ever been.”
• Still Recovering: “The post-pandemic recovery period has lasted far longer than any of us could have ever predicted,” says Michael. “And in some ways, we have yet to return to the communities that we had built prior to the pandemic.”
• Having a Voice: Michael says, “One of the things that, for me, I was most passionate about is making sure that teachers had a seat at the table and had responsibility and real decision-making authority for collectively determining the future of their classrooms and their schools. And I think that’s a huge piece that’s missing in today’s public education systems.”
• Data Systems: Michael believes that the evolution of data systems has helped positively transform teaching and learning. He says, “I think this has been such a key part of actually operationalizing the professional learning community, or PLC, in providing teachers with actionable data . . . to have an impact or a change on the instructional outcomes.”
• Improving Teacher Proximity: Another tech tool Michael cites as having a positive impact is a hardware solution enabling teachers to move about the room without being tethered to their computer or interactive whiteboard. The goal is “freeing up the teacher to be where they need to be at any moment in the classroom.”
• Not Just Glitter: Michael says, “We were trying not to just throw glitter on stuff.” The technology that his schools adopted targeted specific needs and had actionable results.
• Having a North Star: Michael emphasizes the importance of being grounded in a North Star and having clear goals and values. “This is kind of the thing that separates leaders, and I’m talking about leaders at every level of the organization. . . . This is what keeps solid organizations moving in the right direction because they have a sense—and it’s a shared sense—of what is the main work.”
• Superintendent in Residence: Michael is the first-ever Superintendent in Residence for AVID Center. He calls it “a great opportunity,” where he focuses on working with principals and superintendents from across the nation. He says, “I think we’re at a point in our evolution within AVID where there’s a realization that an investment is needed to build leaders.” He adds, “It’s been such a beautiful thing for me to join this incredible AVID family.”
• Pragmatism: Michael says, “The pace of change is exponential, and I think it’s the pragmatist that has the advantage right now, and I don’t say that in terms of being unwilling to move, but I think that slowing down and reexamining your “why”—your personal and collective why—is super important.”
• Career Dreamer: One of Michael’s toolkit items is a new tool from Google called Career Dreamer, an AI-powered tool for exploring career possibilities. “What a great tool to put in the hands of our kids,” he says.
• Michael’s One Thing: “Let’s never forget that change is emotional, and oftentimes, I think that people jump to change too quickly, and they leave out the emotional attachment that the existing people have worked on to improve the current system.”