The Christmas Tree Effect: When More Isn’t Better

Have you ever wondered how it is that the more solutions we bring in to help historically lower-performing students, the less they sometimes seem to impact students?

A new intervention, a new curriculum, another professional development, another layer of support. Each one is added for a reason, and each one may even be a good idea on its own. But eventually, schools can begin to look a little like a Christmas tree. One ornament goes up, then another, and another. Before long, the branches are carrying so much that it becomes hard to see the tree underneath.

In Where Equity Lives, this is described as the Christmas Tree Effect: our tendency to keep adding solutions in response to persistent challenges, particularly when we are trying to improve outcomes for historically lower-achieving students. The instinct makes sense. When students aren’t getting the outcomes we want for them, doing more feels like the responsible response.

But what if more isn’t what the system needs?

When Helping Starts to Hurt

Initiative overload has a human cost. Teachers are asked to learn new approaches while implementing yesterday’s priorities and preparing for tomorrow’s. Leaders are managing multiple improvement efforts at once. Programs compete for the same limited time, attention, training, and resources. Eventually, the people responsible for carrying all of it can become exhausted.

The book connects this kind of burnout to something deeper than simply being tired. Educators can begin to experience a loss of the professional passion that brought them to the work in the first place. And when adults are stretched thin, students experience the consequences too.

Students notice when consistency disappears. They notice when adults are frequently absent, when priorities continually change, and when the learning experience begins to feel fragmented. In one of the examples shared in the book, students understood that when so many people were out, not much learning was expected of them. That realization should give us pause. The systems adults experience eventually become the learning conditions students experience.

That’s where initiative overload becomes an equity issue. The students our systems are working hardest to support are often the same students who can least afford inconsistency in the quality of their learning experience.

What If the Answer Is Less?

Chapter 4 offers a deceptively simple alternative: strategically select very, very few efforts—ideally one coherent approach—and focus on implementing it well for a long time. Stay the course.

That can feel uncomfortable in education. When results aren’t moving quickly enough, adding something new can feel like action, while staying focused can feel like we’re not doing enough. But focus isn’t inaction.

Focus gives educators the opportunity to develop expertise instead of continually starting over. It allows implementation to deepen and creates coherence across classrooms, schools, and systems. It also gives leaders the ability to distinguish between an approach that truly isn’t working and one that simply hasn’t been given the conditions or time necessary to work.

If X marks the spot—the equitable outcomes we have committed to achieving for every student—then every initiative should help create a clearer path toward X. When we keep that destination at the center, the question shifts from What else can we add? to What deserves our collective attention?

Before You Add Another Ornament

As a new school year gets underway, there will be no shortage of good ideas. The harder leadership work may be deciding which ones not to pursue.

Take a look at the initiatives, programs, interventions, priorities, and expectations currently competing for your team’s attention. What would your Christmas tree look like? Which efforts are directly connected to the outcomes you have committed to for students? Which are competing for the same limited time and attention? Where might doing less—more deeply, more consistently, and for longer—allow your educators to do more for students?

Sometimes getting closer to X isn’t about finding the next solution. It’s about creating the conditions for the right work to finally take root.