This is about helping us
to define instructional
leadership and our
vision for the overall
culture of the district.
that my teachers understand and use specific
instructional practices, and that principals
are informed to the point where they can
delve into these effective practices as well.
“If principals are going to spend their time
in deep conversations with teachers around
instruction, I need to be ready to say here
is a task or responsibility you can let go of
in order to be able to take this on. We also
have to have a plan for who will take on that
which was formerly the principal’s respon-
sibility.”
A realization for the core team has been
that there are some things – sticky issues –
they aren’t ready to take on, including the
role of student achievement in the growth
system and what they will do to support very
experienced, as well as struggling teachers.
But, for now, they are comfortable knowing
that they are laying the foundation, in terms
of communication and expectations.
“It’s not so overwhelming if you are ac-
tually taking little steps that you can man-
age,” Reyes said. “We just have to work on
this first step, and look as far ahead as the
next step. Creating a new vision isn’t a huge
insurmountable problem. It’s something we
are all capable of.”
42
Leadership
REEd has learned as well. Working with
Robla has forced us to think about what it
means to engage in a cycle of continuous
improvement. We’ve come to acknowledge
our own value as a university intermediary
who has the ability to say, “You know the big
goal, and you know there are a lot of steps
that have to take place between now and that
goal. It’s OK to slow down. It’s OK to pause
and think about what you need to adjust. It’s
OK to end up going in an entirely different
direction than the one you had originally an-
ticipated.”
This is challenging work for any district. It
takes time, and there is no one-size-fits-all
solution. But the potential pay-off is mov-
ing California toward a statewide, system-
wide professional learning model that values
teacher choice and voice; strong leadership
within a growth-driven environment and
mindset; ongoing collaborative opportuni-
ties; the productive and meaningful use of
time; and ongoing, formative reflective pro-
cess that maximizes the potential for instruc-
tional improvement and student learning.
Resources
• Carnegie Foundation for the Advance-
ment of Teaching (2013). “Improvement
Research Carried Out Through Networked
Communities: Ac