2. Meets regularly: The leadership team develops a year-long schedule and meets regularly (a minimum of once per month). The leadership team meetings are a valued part of the school’s culture and take place with or without the principal serving as the facilitator. The leadership team develops a year-long schedule and meets regularly (once or twice per month). The leadership team meets as needed. Meetings are rarely scheduled in advance. The leadership team does not meet. Evidence Action Steps Monitoring & Evaluation
3. Establishes processes and protocols for team collaboration: The leadership team has flexible but clearly defined processes for shared decision making and problem solving. There is strong evidence that decisions are made collaboratively. Protocols and an organized framework for conducting business are consistently implemented. These processes keep the work of the leadership team focused and maximize the talents of the team members involved. The leadership team has a clearly defined process for shared decision making and problem solving. There is some evidence of collaborative decision making. A protocol for conducting business and an organized framework exist to guide the work of the team. School decisions are centrally controlled and distributed to the team with minimal evidence of collaborative decision making. Attempts are made to implement a protocol for conducting business and an organized framework to guide the work of the leadership team. A clear protocol for conducting business and processes for collaborative decision making do not exist. Evidence Action Steps Monitoring & Evaluation
4. Is data-driven: The school leadership team is highly data-driven; acquiring, analyzing, and displaying useful and current data and identifying relevant data patterns to make decisions and solve problems. The team understands that being data driven is a cyclical process that leads to new ideas, questions, and possibly the need for more data. The school leadership team gathers and analyzes a variety of data in a timely manner to make decisions, solve problems, and implement the school improvement process. The team uses diagnostic, process, and formative assessment data in addition to summative data. The school leadership team gathers some data to make decisions and solve problems, but it tends to be summative and is not necessarily timely. There is little or no evidence of the use of data to guide and inform decision-making and problem-solving tasks. Data is rarely used to develop, implement, and monitor school improvement processes. Evidence Action Steps Monitoring & Evaluation
6. Ensures a process of continuous improvement: Evidence supports that systematic improvement processes are in place that deliberately target issues within the school. The leadership team continuously addresses the questions: Where are we now? Where are we going? How will we get there? The school improvement cycle includes a fully developed school improvement plan, monitoring the implementation of initiatives, and using data to evaluate the impact of interventions. This cycle ensures a direct impact on student achievement, instructional practices, and organizational effectiveness. Evidence supports that systematic improvement processes are in place that deliberately target issues within the school. The leadership team continuously addresses the questions: Where are we now? Where are we going? How will we get there? These questions serve as a means to monitor the implementation of initiatives and evaluate their impact on student achievement and instructional effectiveness. There is some evidence that improvement processes exist, but these processes are random and do not intentionally target issues directly impacting student achievement or instructional practices. There is little or no evidence of a systematic process for continuous improvement. Evidence Action Steps Monitoring & Evaluation
8. Develops the leadership skills of team members and builds leadership capacity: The leadership team exhibits a sense of collective responsibility and has the mindset of empowering all personnel in the school to lead where they operate. The leadership team involves and encourages all personnel to lend themselves to meaningful work tied to the school vision and goals. The principal builds the capacity of the leadership team through ongoing professional learning and consequential tasks embedded in the work. The leadership team members in turn provide professional learning to support the function of a variety of schoolwide teams and build the leadership capacity of staff members. Team members are provided with and pursue professional learning opportunities to enhance their personal growth as a team member. Professional learning is ongoing and embedded in the work of the team. Leadership team members ensure the formation and training of a variety of schoolwide teams whose members perform essential tasks linked to the school vision and goals. Team members sporadically receive training to develop leadership skills, but topics are often isolated and not embedded in the work of the team. Leadership team members attempt to form a variety of schoolwide teams with limited professional learning to support implementation. Team members rarely receive professional learning to build leadership skills or enhance personal growth. Efforts to build leadership capacity, within the school, do not exist. Evidence Action Steps Monitoring & Evaluation