A Winding Path

A winding path

Tucson follows circuitous route toward professional learning for principals

By Harrie Arzu Scarborough

Is this a familiar image from not so long ago? Principals manage schools, ensuring that that nothing interrupts business as usual. They spend little time on instruction. A good principal is the one who works in a highachieving school that has no significant management problems. Districts celebrate improved student results by recognizing an outstanding crop of students, rarely pointing to the quality of teaching in a school. Before accountability reached Tucson (Ariz.) Unified School District in 2003, we embodied this image. In 2000, TUSD’s leadership set ambitious five-year goals for the district but failed to develop a blueprint for achieving those goals. Frustrated by the lack of progress towards the goals in three years, the district designed a plan of action in 2003 that focused

Read the remaining content with membership access. Join or log in below to continue.

Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem.

References

Research for Better Teaching (2003). Course description for observing and analyzing teaching I. Acton, MA: Author.

Stigler, J.W. & Hiebert, J. (1999). The teaching gap. New York: The Free Press.

Wagner, T., Kegan, R., Lahey, L., Lemons, R.W., Garnier, J., Helsing, D., et al. (2006). Change leadership: A practical guide to transforming our schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.