The importance of leadership at the building level is also very clear. Principals also work at developing leadership within the staff and teachers are becoming much more confident and competent in analyzing data, observing in each other's classrooms, and providing essential feedback regarding instruction, teaching and learning. At the outset it appears that schools, even strong schools, that have changes of principal leadership also experience some state of imbalance and struggle as they work to find a common vision and balance once again. Another question that we hope to answer relates to district leadership and the impact of the district's direction, focus and impetus on buildings as they work to maintain their individuality and find success with their special populations of students. Accountability paired with acknowledgment seems to be the fourth thread in holding together successful schools in the Initiative.
Accountability comes in many ways.
First of all, the development of the school portfolio forces staff to talk with each other in their buildings and make decisions regarding appropriate work to be placed in the portfolio, considering how teacher reflection will be demonstrated in that piece of work. This process has brought about a feeling of accountability among partner school staffs - to each other and to the other partner schools as they meet three time a year to share their portfolios, review their work and enter into a critical friendship situation with other schools in reviewing that portfolio. The site visits done by the Executive Director in the fall and the Site Visitation Teams in the spring are also strategies to extend thinking for all individuals involved. Board members and staff members from partner schools who have participated in the Site Visitation Teams have commented about how much they have learned after being engaged in the kind of questioning and thinking that takes place during those Visitations and how powerful they feel as they go back into their situations, whether it is a school or a district or another institution. Outside studies such as the Leadership Study and the Review Team provide an additional element of accountability.