The K-12 Leadership 9-Box
One grid that shows a district who is ready for the next seat, who is growing toward it, and who should be kept exactly where they are.
What the 9-box actually is
The 9-box is a single grid that places every adult leader on a campus — or every administrator across a district — against two questions: how ready are they for the next seat today, and how far could they still grow.
Three readiness bands across, three potential bands up, nine cells in total. Each cell is not a label. It is a different conversation and a different next step.
It replaces the two ways districts usually make leadership decisions: whose turn it is, and who the superintendent happens to have seen present well. Neither survives a board question. Evidence does.
- It is not an appraisal instrument and does not feed teacher or administrator evaluation.
- It is a planning tool: who moves, who is developed, who is retained exactly where they are.
- It is re-run on a cycle so growth is visible year over year, not asserted.
The two axes, in school terms
Readiness runs left to right: the evidence that this person can step into the next role now. For administrators it comes from School Leader Readiness™. For classroom staff moving toward a leadership seat it comes from Teacher Leader Readiness™.
Potential runs bottom to top: how much further they can grow with the right development. It draws on the potential and emotional-intelligence instruments already inside the EdDNA™ tracks.
Both axes are scored 0–100 and placed into the same three bands, so a campus in one district can be read the same way as a campus in another.
| Band | Score | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Lower | Below 55 | Not yet demonstrated at this level — or not yet measured. |
| Moderate | 55–74 | Real capability with identifiable gaps to close. |
| High | 75 and above | Consistent, evidenced strength across the dimensions. |
Why it matters to a district
Every one of these is something a superintendent is measured on, and none of them can be answered from a spreadsheet of certifications.
- Principal and AP vacancies get filled with evidence instead of proximity or seniority.
- Turnover exposure becomes visible: a campus with no ready successor is named before the resignation letter arrives, not after.
- Teacher-leader bench depth is documented — usable language for board reporting, Title II spending, and grant narratives.
- Re-run each spring, the same grid shows movement, which is the hardest thing in staff development to prove.
- Master teachers are formally identified as people to retain in the classroom rather than quietly promoted out of it.
The nine cells
Select any cell to see who lands there on a campus, a real example, and what to do about it.
Could take a campus this hiring cycle and keep growing after that.
A veteran AP or a principal at a small campus ready for a larger or harder building.
Place them or expect to lose them. If no seat opens this year, give a district-level mandate and say out loud what the timeline is.
A low potential score is not a low value score. In a school building it usually means: this is a master teacher who does not want an administrative seat. That is a keep, not a problem. Districts that treat the bottom row as a failing grade lose the people who hold their campuses together.
Questions districts ask
No. It is a development and succession planning tool and is kept separate from appraisal. It does not produce an evaluation rating, is not tied to any state appraisal system, and should never be entered into an evaluation record.
The district leaders in the talent review and the certified consultant facilitating it. Individuals receive their own assessment results and their own development plan — not the grid and not anyone else's placement.
Once a year is the minimum, with the review timed to your hiring calendar. Districts in heavy turnover often run a shorter mid-year check on flagged campuses only.
Placement is a reading of the evidence available, so the answer is always to look at what is missing. Add the measure, re-run it, and move the person. The grid should change when better evidence shows up — that is the point.
Usually nothing punitive. The bottom row is mostly master teachers and specialists who are excellent where they are and have no interest in an administrative track. Only the bottom-left cell calls for a difficult conversation, and even there the first step is checking role fit.
Both. Administrators are placed using School Leader Readiness™; teachers and team leads are placed using Teacher Leader Readiness™. Most districts run administrators first and add the teacher-leader bench in year two.
Bring this to your district
The 9-box is part of the EdDNA™ K-12 module. A certified consultant runs the assessments, builds the grid, and facilitates the talent review with your leadership team.