Leading with Vision: How PLCs Drive High Achievement in a Top-Performing Utah School District

PLCs

By: David Specht

What happens when a district combines visionary leadership, a culture of trust, and data-informed collaboration?

For Wasatch County School District in Utah—one of only 32 Model PLC districts in the U.S. and Canada—the result has been remarkable student growth.

In this webinar, Wasatch County Superintendent Paul Sweat joins 2013 Superintendent of the Year Mark Edwards to share how PLCs and strong leadership helped boost student proficiency from 50-60% to over 90%.

Watch this webinar to learn:

How to lead with vision, trust, and a deep belief in educators.
Ways to use real-time data to adjust instruction and support growth.
What makes PLCs successful and sustainable at scale.

Watch the full recording below:

Three Key Takeaways from the Conversation

Set High Expectations—Then Back Them Up with Action

Student achievement doesn’t improve through culture alone. It requires setting ambitious goals and taking consistent, focused action. For some schools, this means confronting hard truths about academic performance, committing to measurable improvement, and following through with targeted strategies. School leaders need to establish clear goals and empower teams to pursue them with urgency and precision. Excellence should be a shared expectation across the district, with every school, educator, and student playing a part.

“We want our teachers to have high expectations of their students. It doesn’t matter where a student comes from, what their prior educational record is, or if they’re new to our country. Teacher estimation of skill is where we start, and we help our teachers understand that this is part of our culture.”

Paul Sweat

Superintendent
,
Wasatch County School District

Trust Starts with Leadership That Shows Up

True leadership begins with building trust, and that trust comes from showing people you genuinely care. Teachers are more willing to grow, collaborate, and take risks when they know their leaders see them, support them, and say thank you. Even small, daily actions can make a difference in shaping culture. Leading with humility, presence, and appreciation creates the kind of environment where educators thrive and, most importantly, students benefit.

“When I first became a principal, the best advice I ever had was somebody said, go to every classroom every day and tell every teacher thank you. And I started doing that.”

Dr. Mark Edwards

Former National Superintendent of the Year
,
AASA

Use Data with Purpose and Make It Personal

Data should be more than numbers on a spreadsheet. In Wasatch, teacher teams use it to track progress, compare results, and learn from one another. Weekly PLC meetings are focused solely on student performance and teaching strategies, with an emphasis on identifying what’s working and sharing best practices. Teachers are empowered to take ownership of outcomes and to constantly improve; not in isolation, but together.

“They get back together the next Monday and compare the data… ‘Oh my gosh, you’re ten to twenty points higher than me. How did you do that?’ Our system really revolves around teachers learning from teachers.”

Paul Sweat

Superintendent
,
Wasatch County School District

See How Otus Supports Data-Driven PLCs