Rodger
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> WHAT IS THE SCHOOL LEADER'S ROLE in sustaining school reform?
> And what "habits of mind & heart" help school leaders guide
> successful school change over time?
> . The full text of a new report on this is available at:
> http://www.ed.gov/pubs/Leadership/
>
> BELOW ARE EXCERPTS from the report. One excerpt looks
> at "key dimensions of leadership for sustaining reform." Two
> others present a few of the many direct quotes from school
> leaders. The final excerpt is a list of "ideas for assessing
> success in...creating a school culture that could sustain
> change after the leader leaves & building meaningful school
> partnerships."
> ***************************************************
> Excerpts from "The Role of Leadership in Sustaining
> School Reform: Voices From the Field" (July 1996)
> ***************************************************
Key Dimensions of Leadership for Sustaining Reform
>==================================================
>FORUM PARTICIPANTS CAME UP WITH HUNDREDS
> of different ways to identify key dimensions of leadership for
> sustaining reform. Their findings fall into five general
categories:
>
> * Partnership and voice. Effective reform leaders cultivate a
> broad definition of community and consider the contribution
> that every member can make to helping children meet
> challenging standards. They hear the voices of many
> stakeholders -- families, businesses, and other groups and
> institutions. Their ability to develop plans that reflect the
> legitimate influence of others draws in many authentic
> partners, whose personal convictions as well as community
> spirit energize participation. They look for evidence of
> widespread participation in important aspects of change.
> Establishing partnerships and listening to a chorus of voices
> are leadership skills that permeate many aspects of reform.
>
> * Vision and values. Effective reform leaders are dependable
> and committed "keepers of the dream" of student success
> generated by faculties, families, and the community. They
> know that realizing the dream hinges in part on applying
> certain agreed-upon values to decision making. They know that
> the dream is continuously evolving and that it belongs to
> everyone. In different ways they ask themselves daily: does
> this decision help realize the dream?
>
> * Knowledge and daring. Effective reform leaders develop
> relevant information bases and cultivate human resources to
> minimize failure while encouraging risk taking. They study,
> count, send staff to workshops, bring in experts and mentors,
> consult their own insight and experience, and in a hundred
> other ways increase capacity to make good decisions. Then
> they step into the unknown and encourage staff to do likewise.
> Their risks are carefully calculated to push the boundaries of
> what is known and commonly done without threatening long-term
> success.
>
> * Savvy and persistence. Effective reform leaders know how the
> system works and they can take a lot of flak (if they must).
> They know how to interact with the central office, the local
> community, and others outside the school. They know how
> certain school structures nurture or discourage attitudes and
> behavior. They can put up with resistance inside or outside
> the building, but they eventually find ways to win
> cooperation. They are good managers. They monitor their
> understanding of the nature and operations of systems, and
> they maintain a network of supporters to lean on in times of
> particular stress.
>
> * Personal qualities. Effective reform leaders put to good use
> an array of personal qualities that many feel may be innate,
> but are often underutilized. A well-developed sense of humor
> was often mentioned as a priceless asset. Leaders use
> language that signals their understanding of human variation
> and the ways their own gifts can be used well.
>==========================
> Part of the report suggests that leaders need to provide some
> evidence of a school culture that can sustain change; e.g:
>
> Show what school committees are doing and who is on each,
> that is, demonstrate distribution of authority and
> responsibility among a wide range of stakeholders
>
> Document voting patterns on key issues, to demonstrate
> the breadth and depth of support
>
> Chart organizational functions and the decision making
> matrix to demonstrate the extent of participation
>
> Show how meetings are run--and that the reform leader
> does not always run them
>
> Show the diversity of key players
>
> Document the persistence of reform after the leader
> leaves
>
> Evidence of meaningful school partnerships:
>
> Provide a roster of the school site council
>
> List community institutions that have formally "adopted"
> the school and document their productive efforts
>
> Report the number and nature of student apprenticeships
> or mentorships involving community institutions
>
> Create a photographic record of special events involving
> community partners
>
> Keep a sign-in log for volunteers
>
> List members of the advisory board & their contributions
>
> Document teachers' participation in community-sponsored
> summer learning opportunities (e. g., serving as interns
> in content-related industries or cultural institutions).
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