Education Leadership Policy Toolkit

Based on the research conducted in the MetLife case studies of exemplary leadership, a healthy school culture exists when leaders and their teams purposefully cultivate an environment that reflects and reinforces a commitment to transparent communication, shared leadership and a focus on students' needs. This includes leaders establishing a clear, consistent expectation and value for excellence of and among the learning community, including district and school staff, students and other stakeholders. It includes district and school leaders creating meaningful opportunities for staff to contribute to the school improvement process. Further, it includes leaders enabling their staff to use data to make informed decisions, to feel confident in taking risks on students' behalf and not to fear making mistakes. The result of these leadership efforts is a community in which all contributions are respected, different opinions are leveraged to create innovative solutions, trust is the foundation for student learning and everyone feels ownership of student success.

The State tab allows you to see some key policies and practices statewide which support the development of positive school cultures in districts and schools.

The District tab allows you to see the key leadership factors at the district level that promote successful school culture among district staff. These characteristics have a direct impact on the principals, teachers and students at the school level.

The School tab allows you to see the key leadership factors at the school level.

The Resources tab provides links to additional information.

The Interviews on the right provide some insight into what teachers, staff and leaders think and feel in a system that cultivates this kind of school culture. The interviews are saved as mp3 files and will open in whatever media player you have installed on your system.

State policies and practices that support district leaders' ability to develop beneficial school cultures in public schools:

State accountability and standards policies create the foundation for a culture of high expectations.
State data systems support the collection and analysis of safety, support, staff and student data elements such as staff and student satisfaction metrics.
The state and district school boards support and encourage an explicit focus on creating a culture of safety and learning.
State law allows for sharing of data openly with educators and flexibility of principal to make decisions based on their own school data.

Examples of state school board policies that address principal leadership characteristics:

Please see the ECS leadership database and the ECS accountability issue site for more examples of state policies.

At the district level, leaders create both policies and practices where the following conditions are in place:

There are high expectations for all staff, students, programs, and parents; the entire faculty - from superintendents to janitors - are expected to show how they contribute to increased student achievement.
Transparency exists throughout all levels of the district so staff know what is expected of them.
There is shared leadership among staff who take ownership of situations.
There is a willingness to take risks and accept mistakes as a learning process.
The district gives flexibility to principals as long as positive results are shown.
Every child is known by name, and all staff members take responsibility for each child.

School Board

The school board's leadership role in creating a successful school cultures is to provide policy guidance for the district, and work with the superintendent to ensure that district policies help develop a productive and positive culture in every school.

The Key Work of School Boards is a framework of eight essential key action areas from the National School Board Association (NSBA) that focus and guide schools boards in their efforts to improve student achievement. The eight areas include: Vision, Standards, Assessment, Accountability, Alignment, Climate, Collaborative Relationships, and Continuous Improvement.

Michael Goar
Memphis City Schools, Director of Human Resources (0:15)

Michael Goar
Memphis City Schools, Director of Human Resources (1:36)

Carol Johnson
Memphis City Schools, Superintendent (0:35)

Casel Walker
Boston Public Schools, Principal, Manning Elementary (2:15)

At the school level, principals are the driving force in ensuring a successful school culture:

Principals have high expectations for all staff, students, programs and parents.
There is transparency between principals and staff at all levels.
Staff is there for the kids, much more so than for the adults.
Shared leadership teams have real decisionmaking power and these decisions are trusted by the whole staff.

Keith Magni
Boston Public Schools, Teacher, Boston Arts Academy (1:20)

Nicole Bahnam
Boston Public Schools, Principal, Boston Community Leadership Academy (2:00)

Margaret Godshalk
National City Public Schools, Teacher, Kimball Elementary (0:48)

Lorrain Theroux
Boston Public Schools, Teacher, Manning Elementary

Jonnie Commons

Creating a School-Community Culture of Learning: Exemplary Leadership Practices in Four School Districts
(Katy Anthes and Arika Long, Education Commission of the States, June 2006)

This ECS policy brief explores the common strategy among all four case-study districts of actively pursuing a positive school culture committed to transparency, shared leadership and focusing on the needs and interests of children.

Systems of Practice: How Leaders Use Artifacts to Create Professional Community in Schools
(Richard R. Halverson, Education Policy Analysis Archives, 11 (37) October 10, 2003)

This journal explores how local school leaders construct the conditions for professional community in their schools. This paper argues that professional community is a special form of social capital that results, in part, from the design and implementation of facilitating structural networks by instructional leaders in schools.

Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) Culture Web Page

This Web page from SEDL examines research concerning school culture around six specific topics; attitudes and beliefs, attitudes toward change, cultural norms, cultural norms that facilitate school improvement, and relationships.