Leadership magazine Jan/Feb 2016 V45 No 3 | Page 22

We have seen teachers
become members of
Instructional Leadership
Teams and blossom as
leaders within their schools
and beyond. In this way,
instructional leadership
teams strengthen schools
today and create school
leaders of the future.

room behind. This is especially true when an
ILT works explicitly on the leadership skills
of its members – for example, discussing
what it means to be a leader and reflecting
regularly on challenges and successes that
members experience as they lead their peers
in strengthening instruction.
We have seen teachers become members
of ILTs and blossom as leaders within their
schools and beyond. In this way, Instructional Leadership Teams strengthen schools
today and create school leaders of the future.

Facing ILT challenges
Although an ILT provides many benefits
to a school and the team’s individual members, ILTs can also face challenges. For example, the work of the team may not always
be appreciated by non-ILT teachers, with
some feeling the ILT is just one more group
who tells teachers what to do. Team members can minimize this dynamic by establishing formal channels of communication
between the ILT and teachers’ work groups
at the grade or department level. Members of the Instructional Leadership Team
should welcome input and communicate
that one of the main purposes of the team
is to ensure teachers’ perspectives are represented when school-level decisions are made.
A challenge for ILT members in some
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Leadership

schools is difficulty finding successors. This
can leave members feeling that the longterm success of the school depends solely on
them. What would ideally happen instead
is that new members would join from time
to time as long-serving members are rotated
out so that a broad cross-section of the staff
gets to play a part in leading the school.
Current team members can help make
that happen by identifying potential leaders and working with them to expand their
role in the school. With a little coaxing and
coaching, some teachers who do not think
of themselves as leaders can eventually join
the ILT and play a key part in realizing the
larger vision for the school.
Another challenge arises from the fact
that instructional leadership activities often
occur outside the regular school day. In response, teacher-leaders must adopt a flexible
schedule, using time typically spent preparing for their own classes to support the ILT.
If district and school leaders can find funds
to compensate team members for the extra
time and effort, the ILT will likely be more
stable and have higher morale.

Creating educators CA needs
Despite these challenges, an Instructional
Leadership Team can help bring about great
improvements in a school. Such a team ex-

tends the scope of leadership beyond what
school administrators can achieve alone, and
ensures staff members gain greater ownership over their work. In the process, staff
members build their leadership capacity and
become collaborative change agents.
As the responsibilities of school leaders
rise with the implementation of the Common Core and Local Control and Accountability Plans, California will need more and
more educators who have a learning orientation and collaborative leadership style. One
promising way to develop these educators
of tomorrow is to build strong Instructional
Leadership Teams today.

Brian Edwards is a research writer for
the national education reform nonprofit Partners in School Innovation.
Jessica Gammell is the district
partnership director, San Francisco,
for Partners in School Innovation.