School leadership lessons from England

The flat structure of American schools is ill-suited for meeting today’s demands to improve education. Even with unprecedented pressure to raise performance, America’s schools remain organized much as they were a century ago — with a single principal presiding over a largely egg-crated faculty. Is this structure sufficient to build the capacity of teachers at each grade level and in each content area to meet today’s higher expectations?

Historically, American schools have addressed this instructional support deficit with a patchwork of poorly defined roles and responsibilities — underused department chairs, fitful coaching models, and informal teacher leaders who generally lack the training and authority to influence the practice of their peers. How exactly do these roles fit into contemporary schools’ strategies for improving teaching and learning? How can we more systematically build the capacity of school leaders to engage with and overcome the challenges of continuous school improvement?

One place to look for fresh ideas about leadership development is England. Over the past 15 years, educational reformers in England have made several important revisions in how schools organize leadership, develop leaders, and integrate leadership into the larger educational infrastructure. American policy makers and reformers can learn much from these experiences.