🧭 What Is CRAFT?

The five-pillar framework I use to build systems that breathe.

After enough hallway pauses, rewritten plans, and Sunday-night reflections, I started to see a pattern.

What began as instinct slowly became method.
And eventually, I gave it a name: CRAFT.

CRAFT is a five-pillar framework for equity-centered design—built in real schools and shaped through the quiet moments most frameworks overlook.

It’s not about perfection.
It’s about pattern.
It’s how I help systems breathe.

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✴️ C – Context Representation

“Context isn’t background—it’s the foundation.”

We make better decisions when we know what someone’s carrying.
CRAFT starts with what’s shaping a person’s day, not just how they’re performing.

✅ We used this to redesign a behavior plan after realizing a student’s outbursts always came after 6th period—right after lunch, right before a class with no sensory breaks.

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🔁 R – Reciprocity & Co-Design

“We design better when we build with, not for.”

Equity doesn’t stick when it’s done to people.
CRAFT asks: Who helped shape this—and who’s being affected by it?

✅ We used this to redesign our teacher support rollout—after realizing “support” felt more like surveillance until teachers helped shape it themselves.

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🅰 A – Accessibility of Language

“Clarity is equity. Say what you mean so others can enter.”

Language should invite, not intimidate.
CRAFT makes sure your emails, policies, and plans don’t require translation just to feel safe.

✅ We used this to rewrite a family message about testing accommodations—from jargon-filled compliance to clear, warm access.

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🌀 F – Flexibility Without Burden

“Choice should feel like agency, not obligation.”

Offering options isn’t always equitable.
CRAFT helps us offer the right kind of flexibility—without shifting all the work to the people already carrying the most.

✅ We used this in our PD redesign. “Optional” supports stopped feeling supportive when they came with no guidance or scaffolding. CRAFT helped us build better on-ramps.

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⏳ T – Time & Capacity Respect

“Design for the day someone’s already having.”

Everyone is carrying something.
CRAFT doesn’t ask, “How can we fit more in?” It asks, “What can we take off the plate—and still get where we need to go?”

✅ We used this to shift our behavior documentation system. Instead of adding a new platform, we simplified an existing one—protecting teacher time while still tracking what mattered.

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CRAFT isn’t a checklist. It’s a compass.
It helps me make decisions when instinct alone isn’t enough.
It reminds me to slow down, name the real need, and design like people matter.

You don’t have to memorize it.
Just start noticing where care is breaking down—and what might shift if clarity took its place.

I’ll keep sharing what happens when I do.

Thanks for reading.
🛠️ Let’s keep building

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