The literature has included reports about the roles and activities of leaders and leadership teams engaged in effective school projects and school improvement efforts. Typically, such reports focus on the introduction of a change, initiation of the change process, and mobilization of the school and/or district as 1) goals are set, 2) data are reviewed, 3) needs are established, and 4) campus or district action plans are developed. Many educators are relieved when the hard work described above has been completed. Many also assume that somehow the job of school change and improvement has been completed at this point. Whereas these first four steps in the school change process constitute a preparation stage, it is at the Fifth Step, Implementation, that the changing actually begins. At this point, the new practices identified in the action plan are ready to be put into place in classrooms and the school. And it is at the implementation stage that many improvement efforts fail for lack of attention. This paper draws particular attention to the implementation stage of change and to the actions taken by school leaders who effectively implement policies and practices identified to improve their educational organizations. Understandably, the position of a leader who is providing supportive action for change could influence the action's effectiveness. However, the relationship of leader position and effectiveness varies from site to site. This report, then, focuses on the actions required by leaders for successful implementation of change, irrespective of who does them. To describe what is done by such leaders, a short review of relevant literature from change research is reported. This research is followed by the school improvement story of a district that exemplifies what has been learned about leadership for change.
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