Forum participants described how some schools and districts are revising administrative responsibilities, professional relationships, and accountability systems to achieve these goals. Instructional Leadership Many of the changes in practice discussed at the Forum seek to sharpen the districts' focus on instructional leadership. In the Boston Public Schools, principals do walk throughs of each others' schools, using a specific protocol for observing instruction. One principal takes the role of facilitator, and after the walk through, the group suggests possible improvements for that school. The idea is to create a supportive, but challenging, peer group that will encourage administrators to recognize and solve instructional problems.
Distinguished principals receive extra pay to mentor their colleagues.
Principals also participate in collegial study groups, where they read relevant research and discuss issues such as how to implement high standards. In Bellevue, Washington, both the superintendent and the principals regularly visit classrooms, with the goal of learning to recognize and describe good teaching and to provide better instructional feedback to teachers. After multiple classroom visits, the superintendent and principal discuss their observations, then meet with the teacher and eventually with the students. Teachers and principals in this district are continually revising curriculum and refining lessons. Principals also get together monthly to talk about instruction.