Center for Equitable and Effective Leadership

Is your school district talking about equity but nothing seems to change? Are you looking for ways to increase productivity in staff and team meetings? Is there a disconnect between the work you’re doing around equity and all other initiatives in your school?

Small Schools

You can draw on the services, resources and collective experiences of CEEL and its network to address the needs of your school community towards school improvement.

• Designing small schools, schools-within-schools and other small, innovative learning communities
• Communicating information to and from stakeholders and obtaining buy-in
• Collaborating with stakeholders to develop vision and focus for small schools
• Consulting with district and school leaders to solve problems of overcrowding, scheduling, design and policy
• Connecting teachers through professional development in areas of leadership, teaming and collaborative teaching
• Constructing, integrating and aligning curriculum and assessment for small schools

Back to the top

Having an external coach to collaborate with can often enhance your leadership skills by bringing an outside perspective to internal issues and challenges, supporting professional development goals with expanded resources and experience, and
advocating for the school with district, state, and other key organizations. School leadership coaching can help you:

• Assess strengths and identify growth areas
• Analyze data through an equity lens
• Align equity goals with School Improvement Plans or other school/district strategic plans
• Increase awareness of issues of race, class, and privilege in school culture, achievement, pedagogy, professional development and planning
• Apply coaching methodology and tools for school improvement M
• Implement strategies to create and sustain sustain positive school culture, authentic family partnerships, and effective instructional programs.
• Tools and protocols for effective classroom observations and instructional coaching.

On the benefits of coaching:

"Foster has benefited greatly from having outside coaches work with us during the last 4 years. I am convinced that our school would not have made the progress we have in areas of curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and reform if we hadn't received the benefits of outside coaching. At a personal level, I have grown to appreciate an outside source of ideas on how my own professional practice can continue to evolve. I have been fortunate to work with outside coaches who understand the administrative realm and have gained from one on one discussion with them."

Gary Moed, Principal
Foster High School
Tukwila, WA

Back to the top

Professional Learning Communities

Research and common sense tells us that when educators are able to seek and share learning and then act on what they learn, students benefit. Schools across the country are implementing professional learning communities with mixed results. Often the intentions are there, but many PLC's are missing the deliberate structures and tools that make effective learning possible and make PLC's sing.

CEEL is the National School Reform Faculty (NSRF) Center of Activity for Oregon. At the heart of the NSRF program is the Critical Friends Group (CFG). CFGs are the product of a simple idea; providing deliberate time and structures to promote adult professional growth that is directly linked to student learning. CFG's provide schools with specific tools, structures, and resources to best support collaborative learning linked to classroom practice.

We consider this work to be integral to the reinvention of our schools. CEEL hosts Critical Friends Group trainings on a regular basis, provides support to existing groups, and provides professional development opportunities related to the further development of collegial relationships.

Contact us to learn more about:

• Effective staff collaboration, across cultural and role differences, on behalf of student learning
• Structures and processes that support continuous learning and improvement (e.g., Critical Friends Groups (CFG), Data-based Inquiry, Reflection Protocols)
• Professional development plans aligned with available resources and instructional goals
• Training in responsive facilitation/facilitative leadership
• Team building aligned with goals and outcomes

Back to the top

Culturally Competent Assessment and Facilitation

As schools move more deeply into addressing the needs of each and every child in their classrooms and school populations change, issues of equity and cultural competence inevitably arise. These complex and challenging issues often require an external experienced facilitator who can come in and help staffs identify, discuss, and take action around the uncomfortable realities of equity-based disparities in our schools.

• Assess strengths and challenges related to cultural competence in classrooms, schools, districts, and organizations
• Professional development to deepen understanding of and efficacy in cultural competency
• Deepen understanding of what it means to be culturally responsive
• Strategic planning and goal setting related to equity issues and goals
• Facilitate Courageous Conversations about racial disparities in your school
• Facilitate equity-focused teams, staff retreats, meetings
  

Back to the top

---

Youth Leadership, Youth Development, and Youth Voice

"Youth empowerment is an attitudinal, structural, and cultural process whereby young people gain the ability, authority, and agency to make decisions and implement change in their own lives and the lives of other people, including youth and adults." (wikipedia.org)

• Develop deep and meaningful alliances between diverse adults and youth

• Learn how to engage diverse youth and resources and create leadership opportunities for all youth

• Expand tools, resources, and strategies to improve youth development outcomes and empower diverse youth to succeed

Back to the top

---

Communication and Conflict Mediation

Nothing can ruin a school climate faster than a dispute with another coworker or administrator. Conflict in schools leads to a decline in civility and an unhealthly climate that reverbrates throughout the school and into classrooms.

Whether conflict is centered around behavior, work habits, pedagogy, policies, or practices, leaders may find their personnel policies or facilitative practices inadequate to address distressing behaviors of staff members.

Mediation and intervention as an avenue of dispute resolution sends an implicit message of trust and empowerment. It offers a unique opportunity for people who work together to build or rebuild trust and healthy working relationships.

• Mindful conflict mediation
  • Conflict Mediation across difference
  • Communication effectively in diverse communities
  • Helping schools communicate and collaborate more effectively

Back to the top