They indicate that sharing evidence in their portfolio with other professionals helps them to look critically at their own work. The questions and feedback from the partner schools and the site visitation teams lead them to deeper understanding of the teaching craft. They also appreciate the professional acknowledgement of hard work. The parallel tracks of leadership in the buildings have been interesting in our study. Also, the role of key staff as building leaders continues to be shown as crucial in the development of each school.
Key staff maintain direction of the building's goals.
They build and share common vocabulary and expectations. They actively support the efforts of others and implement effective instruction. A great deal of credit should to be given to each of the individual schools. Each demonstrates willingness to look at difficult situations and hard questions. Their openness has definitely supported the Initiative's research goals, individual school progress, and that of their districts.