Unlocking the Potential of the School Improvement Panel: From Compliance to Best Practice By Joseph P. Vespignani, Ed.D. and J. Scott Cascone, Ed.D.

As published in the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association 2016 "Educational Viewpoints"  Journal 

Abstract

Today’s school leader encounters new and complex challenges as a result of the evolving policy environment. Ultimately, the burden of either the success or failure of a school falls on the principal (Spillane, 2009). A significant impediment to leadership is when a leader attempts to carry the burden alone (Hallinger, 2005). Consequently, there is an explicit need to foster collaboration and focus on building the collective capacity of teacher leaders to imple­ment change (Fullan, 2011). Just as the factory model of edu­cation has been rendered obsolete for 21st century students, so has it been for educational leadership and our educational professionals. While the prescription of distrib­utive leadership has oft appeared in leadership standards, evaluative models, and legislative mandates, actualization remains elusive (Hairon and Goh, 2015). Although the term “distributive leadership” may be relatively new, its essence of engendering an “esprit du corps” by which all members are extrinsically empowered and intrinsically moti­vated to achieve organizational goals is as old as leadership itself. When teachers are empowered to become leaders within the change process, they can contribute to the learning and professional growth of their colleagues (Hallinger, 2011). As it relates to AchieveNJ, an over­looked possibility for developing teacher leaders remains in the School Improvement Panel (hereafter referred to as ScIP). Through simple and effective practices aligned with the responsibilities of this panel outlined in AchieveNJ, school leaders can unlock the potential of the ScIP to maximize its benefit within their learning communities. In this article, we share promising practices that have been effectively implemented to augment the teaching and learning process in our schools. Moreover, we share how central office administrators can ensure horizontal consistency among all schools within their district.

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