Distributed Leadership: Share the Wealth Presented by Dr. Lynne Wright, Principal Rebecca Irwin Kennedy, Assistant Principal

Introduction  Objectives  Participants will create a working definition of Distributed Leadership.  Participants will understand how one school applied distributed leadership tenant and went from a top-down model of leadership to a web of leaders.  Participants will identify possible next steps for their school leadership.

Inclusion Activity  Line up alphabetically by the first letter of the state where you live  Fold the line and find a partner  Introduce yourself to your partner  (what state you live in, your position, how long you’ve been at your current school)

Pair/Share  With your same partner discuss the following:  How do you define Distributed Leadership?

Article: Distributed Leadership  Article: Dr. Alma Harris Professor of Education Leadership  Read article (8 min.)  Highlight your favorite sentence.  Protocol for discussing the article:  Share your favorite sentence with the group. The rest of the group comments about your sentence. After everyone else has commented, then you share your comment about the sentence.  Repeat with the next person’s favorite sentence.

What is Distributed Leadership?  Three essential elements:  Leadership practice is the central and anchoring concern.  Leadership practice is generated in the interactions of leaders, followers, and their situation; each element is essential for leadership practice.  The situation both defines leadership practice is defined through leadership practice. Spillane, J.P. (2006). Distributed Leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Oakridge Elementary School, Arlington, VA A Case Study  2008 – Dr. Lynne Wright became the Assistant Principal at Oakridge  top down model under the previous principal  2010 –Dr. Wright became Principal  1 st year, gathered information, what was working what wasn’t working  Figured out where there were leadership gaps  Initial changes:  established team leads for each team with common planning time  established committees (School Climate, Technology, etc.)

Oakridge Elementary School, Arlington, VA A Case Study cont.’d  Assessed informal and formal leadership of staff  Began hiring/staffing strategically to fill leadership gaps  Shifted power from people in formal leadership roles who didn’t put children first

Oakridge Elementary School, Arlington, VA A Case Study cont.’d  Offered staff opportunities to take charge of different initiatives  As situations arose, people stepped in to take on leadership responsibilities and ran with them

Oakridge Elementary School, Arlington, VA A Case Study cont.’d  Where are we now?  Created systems and a web of leaders throughout the school  No longer have to worry about leadership systems anymore -- things just get done

Closing: Turn and Talk with a Partner  Discuss with a small group at your table:  How does this reflect your school’s situation?  What are the next steps for implementation at our school?

Conclusion  Objectives  Participants will create a working definition of Distributed Leadership.  Participants will understand how one school applied distributed leadership tenant and went from a top-down model of leadership to a web of leaders.  Participants will identify possible next steps for their school leadership.

References  Harris, A. (2014). Distributed leadership. Teacher Magazine. Retrieved from distributed-leadership.  Spillane, J.P & Diamond, J.B. (2007). Distributed leadership in practice. New York, NY: Teachers College.  Spillane, J.P. (2006). Distributed leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.