Leadership for Learning

Abstract

Through a leadership for learning approach, a school-university partnership in a large, urban district was able to recruit, develop, and retain new and existing school leaders. Two cohorts of new leaders were trained while existing leaders enhanced their skills through professional development. Data indicated that the school-university partnership increased the overall percentage of new district leaders by over 19 percent, and met or exceeded all seven of its established targets for leadership development and sustainability.

Considering New Paths for Success

“…There was very little empirical research on urban school-university partnership effectiveness. Much of the existing literature offers documentary accounts of program models (Walker & Downey, 2012), the development of the partnerships (Borrero, 2010), or "lessons learned" regarding the implementation of partnerships (Chu, Carroll, Flores, & French, 2011;Ledoux & McHenry, 2008;Leslie, 2011). Although implementation descriptions, personal narratives, and lessons learned are helpful to others, the lack of empirical data-qualitative and quantitative-in this area presents challenges for scholars and practitioners to develop, replicate, or strengthen partnerships.…”

“…Within these single cases, several themes emerged with the potential for formulating a best practices model for school-university partnerships. The most prevalent is the fostering of collaborative relationships that recognize and utilize emerging and existing school leaders (Borrero, 2010;Leslie, 2011;Walker & Downey, 2012). Additionally, mutual benefits are essential, in which participating schools gain specific improvements beyond the indirect asset of having better-prepared university graduates in teacher education from which to hire (Leslie, 2011).…”

Weaving a colorful cloth: Centering education on humans’ emergent developmental potentials

“…Another inspiring example of emergent holism can be drawn from the work of Vanessa Siddle Walker (Walker, 2019), who documented the teaching and learning that occurred in the south in Black schools during the era of legal, Jim Crow segregation. In an era where Black schools were severely under-resourced, Black school leaders, teachers, students, and communities worked together to garner resources (with communities taxing themselves extra to support the schools, as their tax dollars largely went to support white schools) and provide a 34 high-quality instructional environment for students where they were held to high expectations and provided with multiple supports and relational connections.…”

Weaving a Colorful Cloth: Centering Education on Humans’ Emergent Developmental Potentials

“…Another inspiring example of emergent holism can be drawn from the work of Vanessa Siddle Walker (2019), who documented the teaching and learning that occurred in the South in Black schools during the era of legal Jim Crow segregation. In an era where Black schools were severely underresourced, Black school leaders, teachers, students, and communities worked together to garner resources (with communities taxing themselves extra to support the schools because their tax dollars largely went to support White schools) and provide a high-quality instructional environment for students where they were held to high expectations and provided with multiple supports and relational connections.…”