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Spread What Works More Effectively With Model Critiques

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PUBLISHED September 4, 2026

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PUBLISHED September 4, 2026

A man in a white shirt gestures while speaking at a table with a laptop displaying a presentation focused on model critiques. Other people sit nearby, and the setting appears to be a casual meeting or workshop dedicated to fostering continuous improvement.

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A Model Critique is a protocol for quickly studying a high-quality piece of work and identifying the elements of quality that make it “work”.

In Continuous Improvement, you should use it when an improvement effort has identified an effective practice that they want to spread—especially if that practice may seem ambiguous, abstract, or complicated.

For example, if a school in an improvement network has developed an attendance letter that has proven effective at forging a warm connection with families of students at risk of becoming chronically absent, there are probably lots of schools in the network that would benefit from using their own modified version of this letter! 

The improvement coaches could just send the email to the other schools as an attachment and hope for the best. 

But the practice is more likely to spread if the improvement coaches conduct a model critique session so that everyone can identify the elements of the letter that make it effective. This will make it easier for everyone to adapt it to their own context, and therefore more likely that they will be adopted (and sustained).

The purpose of a “model critique” is threefold:

  1. To provide participants with an inspiring vision of their goal to hold in their minds, and refer back to, throughout the improvement project. 
  2. To identify the “elements of quality” in the model—in other words, to figure out what makes it good (and, by extension, what they will need to do in order to make something like this). Identifying these “elements of quality” in their own words is the first step in the process of turning an abstract goal into something tangible and achievable for every participant. 
  3. To identify the changes you will need to make in order for the model to work in other contexts. For example, a rural school will likely need to adapt a practice developed in an urban setting. 

How do I choose a model?

Any time a school in your network creates a tool or practice that you are hoping more schools in the network will adopt, this is a great opportunity for a model critique. 

Model Critique Sample Agenda

What to prepare in advance:

Figure out how to share the model: 

  • If it’s printable, print a copy for everyone. 
  • If it’s best viewed on a computer, share a link with all participants

1. Participants look at the model

  • Depending on the model, it may make sense to do this individually (for example if they’re reading something) or as a group (for example if they’re watching a video).

2. Participants answer specific questions designed to draw attention to specific aspects of the model, in order to identify the specific qualities that make the model “good”. 

Suggested questions for your first model critique: 

  • What makes this sample stand out as high quality? 
  • What do I see here that I definitely want to introduce at my school?
  • What (if anything) do I see here that I want to do differently in the one that I make?
  • What conditions need to change in order for me to implement this at my school?

3. Use the model to create a list of elements of high quality work that participants can use to assess their own versions.

4. Participants draw up a plan for introducing their version of the model in their own schools.

 

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