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2 Lanes To Leadership

Classroom visits and grade-level meetings build teacher capacity

By Learning Forward
April 2011
Vol. 32 No. 2
Like many school districts across the nation, Solon (Ohio) City Schools is committed to improving the quality and depth of student learning while simultaneously fostering the growth of leadership in the district. To achieve these goals, the district is investing in sustained professional learning designed to build leadership among faculty and to promote meaningful collaboration among teachers within a school and across the district. Two specific professional development approaches demonstrate how one district continues its journey to accomplish these goals. Quarterly Classroom Visitations On a cold February morning, Jessica Kobe, a first-year teacher, demonstrates a writing minilesson for her eager kindergarteners but also for a host of others. Ten teachers from within the district, her building teacher leader, several principals, the district literacy coach, and

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Authors

Denise N. Morgan, Jeff L. Williams, and Katie Plesec

Denise N. Morgan (dmorgan2@kent.edu) is associate professor of literacy education at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Jeff L. Williams (jeffwilliams@solonboe.org) and Katie Plesec (kathrynplesec@solonboe.org) are teacher leaders in the Solon City Schools in Solon, Ohio.

Visitation Protocol

  • Absolutely no talking or writing during visitations.
  • Limit your movements during visitations.
  • We can only engage in self-evaluation — how is our own practice the same or different from the host teacher’s.
  • What happens in Vegas …

2-lanes-to-leadership

References

Barth, R.S. (2001). Learning by heart. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Lambert, L. (2002, May). A framework for shared leadership. Educational Leadership, 59(8), 37-40.

Roy, P. (2009, October). More than a smile and a wave. The Learning System, 5(2), 8.

Sparks, D. (2002). Designing powerful professional development for teachers and principals. Oxford, OH: NSDC.

Wheatley, M. (2002). Turning to one another: Simple conversations to restore hope to the future. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.


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Learning Forward is the only professional association devoted exclusively to those who work in educator professional development. We help our members plan, implement, and measure high-quality professional learning so they can achieve success with their systems, schools, and students.


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