Leadership

What It Is

Most high-performing schools and school districts have good, strong leadership. These leaders—superintendents, principals, and others—are able to inspire a shared vision, motivate others to action, provide encouragement, and serve as role models. They focus on what is important in schools and districts: student learning. It often takes more than one good leader to influence a high-performing school or district; shared leadership can make a stronger difference in school performance.

Why It Matters

In the current era of accountability, strong leadership is necessary for high levels of student achievement. District and school leaders must be actively involved in designing improvement strategies, planning for continuous improvement, allocating resources, and developing and monitoring accountability processes. Leaders should also guide teachers in developing their own leadership abilities, implementing new practices, and using assessment to improve instruction.

What We Do

SEDL works with leaders at the state, district, and school levels to build their leadership skills and capacity to support student achievement. We accomplish this through professional development and technical assistance. We also help educators learn the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM), which provides leaders with the tools they need to measure staff concerns about implementing new practices and programs and evaluating how well staff are implementing the new practices and programs. Our CBAM books and DVDs continue to be our most popular products.