Skip to main content
  • Work at WestEd
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
  • Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Don't Miss Out!

Subscribe to the E-Bulletin for regular updates on research, free resources, solutions, and job postings from WestEd.

Subscribe Now

WestEd E-Bulletin

close

WestEd

WestEd
Improving learning, healthy development, and equity in schools and communities
  • Areas of Work
    • Areas of Work

      Building leadership, skills, and knowledge across critical topics.

      • College & Career
      • Early Childhood Development & Learning
      • English Language Learners
      • Health, Safety, & Well-Being
      • Literacy
      • Schools, Districts, & State Education Systems
      • Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics
      • Special Education
      • Standards, Assessment, & Accountability
      • Teachers & Leaders
      • Featured Initiative
      • Charters & Choice
      • COVID-19 Resources for Educators
      • Online Professional Development
      • Strategic Resource Planning & Implementation
      • Trauma-Informed Practice & Resiliency
  • Professional Development
  • Research & Evaluation
    • Research & Evaluation

      Conducting research and evaluation studies to help improve education and other important outcomes for children, youth, and adults.

      • What We Do
      • How We Can Help
      • WestEd Insights
      • Reports & Publications
      • Other Pages of Interest
      • National TA Centers
      • Consulting & Policy Support
  • Technical Assistance
    • Technical Assistance

      Build systemwide capacity to plan and implement research-informed solutions that ensure positive outcomes.

      • Technical Assistance Services
      • National Support Networks
      • Policy Analysis & Other Support
  • Resources
    • Resources

      A rich portfolio of resources that promote educator effectiveness, inform policy, and support positive outcomes for all learners.

      • Resources Home
      • New Releases
      • Best Sellers
      • Top Downloads
      • Research
      • Free Resources
      • Webinars
      • Catalogs
      • R&D Alert Articles
      • Reprint Permissions
      • Customer Support
      • Contact Publications Center
      • Login/Create Account
  • Events
  • About Us
    • About Us

      Trust unparalleled expertise from WestEd to help all learners succeed.

      • Overview
      • Board of Directors
      • Leadership
      • Staff
      • Offices

      • Work at WestEd
      • Work with WestEd
      • News
      • Events
      • Subscribe
      • Contact Us
  • Work at WestEd
Menu

News

Read about WestEd's work with schools, districts, and state and federal governments to improve education for all learners. In addition, keep up-to-date with our latest research, resources, projects, professional development opportunities, and more.

School Leadership

Featured Initiatives

Educational Leadership in School Improvement – A Guide for Principals and Teachers

WestEd is highlighting promising practices and evidence-based resources for supporting principal and teacher leadership — particularly for educators working in a school improvement setting.

When a school is labeled as needing improvement, education leaders are challenged to rethink their approach to instruction to ensure students receive an education that prepares them for college and career.

WestEd works with states, districts, and schools to improve schools, offering a wide range of services and resources designed to support a systems-based approach to the improvement process.

Working with the REL West Educator Effectiveness Alliance, state education agency leaders are seeking to refine and/or expand their systems of professional support for educators, and, in turn, improve retention among their teachers and principals.

And, designed for states, districts, and schools and informed by research and experience, WestEd’s Four Domains for Rapid School Improvement framework identifies and provides guidance on essential elements that drive rapid, system-wide improvement efforts – leadership, talent development, instruction, and culture.

The following list of tips for education leaders are adapted from WestEd’s practice guide, Examples of Actions Taken by Principals Trying to Lead Turnaround (2017).

The tips highlight some of what principals can do in order to develop and support rapid and sustainable improvement. Download the guide for a full list of strategies with specific examples.

Cultivate successful strategies and lose the unsuccessful ones. Identify policies and practices that are working and plan to continue using them. Understand how to let go of policies and practices that may be “the way we’ve always done it” but not producing results.

Be willing to break rules and norms. Recognize when policies or norms are not in the best interest of students and take the necessary action to change the situation, engaging stakeholders — including staff, parents, and the district office — to make the change that is necessary to prioritize students’ needs.

Rethink systems and structures. Build on initial change efforts and restructure day-to-day operations — for example, roles, schedules, technology, facilities, and resources — to align with the school’s turnaround vision.

Build and lead a team leaders. Once principals have the right teachers in place (talent development), they build a team of teacher leaders from within the ranks of the school, drawing upon different strengths and strategically assigning responsibilities as the turnaround progresses and leadership capacity grows.

Ensure ongoing professional growth opportunities. Recognize that teachers must receive continuous support to provide consistent, strong, differentiated instruction that meets the needs of diverse learners.

Discover Four Domains services and access webinars and other resources.

Explore additional resources for principals and teachers.

WestEd’s Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning offers a wealth of insights on growing teacher leaders and effective teacher-to-teacher professional learning.

The Doing What Works library shares resources for principals and teachers in a turnaround environment, including videos and templates.

Stay tuned for more discussion about teacher and principal leadership in our E-Bulletin and on social media – Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Reference

Meyers, C., Cornier, J., Cooper, G., Dean, S., Hambrick Hitt, D., Kutas, D., Losoponkul, N., & Lutterloh, C. (2017). Examples of actions taken by principals trying to lead turnaround [The Center on School Turnaround]. San Francisco: WestEd.

 

 

 

Posted on January 6, 2020

Schools and districtsTeachers and leaders

View More News

 

Contact Us

Ask a question, request information, make a suggestion, or sign up for our newsletter.

Areas of Work

  • Areas of Work
  • College & Career
  • Early Childhood Development & Learning
  • English Learners
  • Health, Safety, & Well-Being
  • Literacy
  • Schools, Districts, & State Education Systems
  • Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics
  • Special Education
  • Standards, Assessment, & Accountability
  • Teachers & Leaders
  • Featured Initiatives

Professional Development

  • Professional Development

Research & Evaluation

  • Research & Evaluation
  • What We Do
  • How We Can Help
  • Reports & Publications
  • WestEd Insights

Technical Assistance

  • Technical Assistance
  • Technical Assistance Services
  • National Support Networks
  • Policy Analysis and Other Support

Resources

  • Resources
  • Resources Home
  • New Releases
  • Best Sellers
  • Top Downloads
  • Free Resources
  • Research
  • Catalogs
  • Webinars
  • R&D Alert Articles

About Us

  • About Us
  • Overview
  • Board of Directors
  • Leadership
  • Staff
  • WestEd Offices
  • Our Clients and Funders
  • Work with WestEd
  • WestEd Insights
  • News
  • Events
  • Making a Difference
  • Work at WestEd
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Also of Interest:
  • Supporting Transformational Leadership
  • Promising Leadership Practices for Rapid...
  • Turnaround Leadership – Page 6 – Center for...

Copyright ©1995 - 2021 WestEd | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer

Return to top of page