As Honig and colleagues found, “districts generally do not see districtwide improvements in teaching and learning without substantial engagement by their central offices in helping all schools build their capacity for improvement.” (Honig et al., 2010)
Yet with that engagement comes pressure that is often felt in isolation. School leaders find themselves navigating policy and initiative implementation that begins at the board or central office level. They then need to translate and support these initiatives to an often weary and overworked staff which is relatable to the principal herself who also, is weary and overworked. She may feel both disconnected from superiors and alienated from staff. Those perceptions, real or not, compound a sense of loneliness. (Dor-Haim & Oplatka, 2021)
This is where leadership consulting is vitally important.
Leadership Support in Mesa Public Schools
Achieving traction for transformative change is hard. And in a large system, it’s darn near impossible to get everyone rowing in the same direction. Recognizing that their Portrait of a Graduate and corresponding strategic plan ran the risk of being relegated to a binder on a shelf, Mesa Public Schools partnered with Advanced Learning Partnerships to facilitate support for and execution of their equity-focused strategic plan.
Mesa Public Schools Snapshot
- Total Schools: 78
- Total Students: 62,000+
- Total Teachers: 3,200+
- Average Teachers to Students Ratio: 19:1
- Total Administrators: 141
- Total Support Staff: 333
Co-designing a Theory of Action
Together, Mesa leaders and ALP consultants created a guiding Theory of Action: IF we want all Mesa graduates to possess the 5 essential skills and 3 essential attitudes, THEN learning facilitators and leaders must be supported to develop those skills via clear roadmaps, protocols, professional learning, and transparent accountability structures.
In order to bridge theory TO action, ALP consultants served as leadership consultants, engaging district and school-based leaders in a series of academy, cohort, and one on one sessions. The decision to focus first on school leaders was supported by findings from a study from the Wallace foundation: it is difficult to envision an investment with a higher ceiling on its potential return than a successful effort to improve principal leadership (Grissom, Egalite, & Lindsay, 2021, p. 42)
24 school and district leaders participated in our pilot teaching and learning academy cohort. The academy was then further separated into smaller working groups to give more space for shared dialogue and trust-building. Finally, we also provided each participant with a series of 1:1 meetings with a specific consultant.
The whole-group sessions allowed participants to examine and develop shared meaning around district initiatives and plans. In our smaller cohort groups, participants engaged in new learning, shared their individual goals, and gave one another constructive feedback in a protocol-driven, yet relaxed, atmosphere.
In our 1:1 virtual meetings, we provided thought partnership and built relationships, all while supporting each leader as he or she worked through a personalized goal that was connected to the district’s larger goals but tailored to the needs of the individual school and leader. That personalization has been found as a key component of leaders’ professional growth. (Honig & Rainey, 2020)
In the end, our participants told us that working together in groups sparked thinking, provided necessary pushing and pulling of ideas, and led to shared vocabulary and vision. The best part though, according to almost all participants, was the individual time with their ALP coach. That’s not surprising. In fact, despite the demonstrated benefit of mentors and coaches, principals are rarely afforded that access. (Levin et al. 2020)
As one participant put it: “The 1:1 sessions with [ALP coach] were absolutely integral to my learning in supporting me with thoughtful questions, discussions that caused me to think deeper, and resources that gave me tools to take action.”
Mesa’s leaders were thoughtful, accomplished, and fully competent. What we provided was the time, space, trust, and partnership that allowed their best thinking to shine through—while making their working relationships more fulfilling and less lonely.
