Beyond Lichtman’s Stairway: How SCALE Helps Leaders Create the Conditions for Change

Lichtman’s Stairway helps leaders identify which condition may be missing. SCALE extends the model by helping leaders determine what to do about it, what people should begin doing differently, and how to know whether the condition is improving.

Lichtman identifies the conditions required for change. SCALE translates those conditions into intentional leadership actions, observable behaviors, evidence, and continuous improvement.

The SCALE diagnostic pathway

SCALE works backward from the results leaders are experiencing:

Result → Behavior → Condition → Leadership Action

For example:

• Result: PLCs are inconsistent across teams.

• Behavior: Some teams study student evidence; others handle announcements.

• Condition: Clarity and implementation integrity are weak.

• Leadership action: Define the essential PLC cycle, model it, provide a common protocol, monitor its use, and respond to evidence.

This prevents leaders from immediately labeling people as “resistant” or prescribing more training without first diagnosing the condition producing the problem.

How SCALE strengthens Lichtman’s conditions

SCALE strengthens Lichtman’s conditions by translating each one into intentional leadership practice. Leaders create a shared vision, involve the right people, establish realistic timelines, develop necessary skills, provide resources, build commitment, communicate consistently, and monitor whether these actions are producing the conditions needed for lasting change.

SCALE turns each condition into an implementation system

The five SCALE phases provide a pathway for acting on these conditions.

S — Set the Vision & Team

Leaders establish:

• The problem or opportunity

• The intended result

• The people who must be involved

• The values and evidence guiding the work

• The initial conditions needed for success

This primarily strengthens leadership, vision, inclusiveness, and commitment.

C — Create the Script/Roadmap

Leaders translate the vision into:

• Defined practices and non-negotiables

• Roles and responsibilities

• Professional-learning and coaching plans

• Resources and protected time

• Implementation stages and milestones

• Observable evidence and integrity criteria

• Communication and recognition plans

This strengthens clarity, timeline, skills, resources, and communication.

A — Act & Communicate

Leaders bring the plan to life by:

• Modeling expectations

• Communicating consistently

• Providing opportunities to practice

• Coaching and supporting implementation

• Remaining visible

• Reinforcing accountability

• Removing emerging barriers

This turns planned conditions into people’s daily experience.

L — Learn, Listen, & Linger

Leaders determine whether their actions are actually producing the intended conditions by:

• Gathering implementation evidence

• Listening to practitioners

• Examining differences across teams

• Identifying root causes

• Adjusting supports

• Staying with the work long enough for practice to deepen

This prevents a condition from being assumed simply because leaders addressed it once.

E — Empower & Elevate

Leaders make the conditions sustainable by:

• Developing teacher and team leadership

• Sharing ownership

• Building onboarding systems

• Embedding routines into existing structures

• Celebrating meaningful progress

• Spreading effective practices without losing integrity

This moves the initiative from leader-dependent implementation to organizational capacity.

The role of SCALE’s Leadership Production Behaviors

The Leadership Production Behaviors, identified to make leadership more transparent and visible, provide an even more specific set of leadership levers: