Leadership magazine Jan/Feb 2016 V45 No 3 | Page 34

Vision to action:
Supporting the most
underserved schools
The SFUSD
‘Superintendent’s
Zone’ provided the
key shifts in leadership
and learning needed
to build the capacity
of schools for
improvement.

34

Leadership

Here was a veteran principal

within San Francisco Unified School District who knew a thing or two about school
improvement. When he agreed to have his
middle school be part of SFUSD’s new reform effort, the Superintendent’s Zone, he
was not sure what to expect.
His middle school was deemed a “turnaround” school for its performance on standardized tests when it became part of the
Superintendent’s Zone. Consequently, half
of the school’s staff would need to leave, and
new teachers would be hired.
This and a majority of the other Superintendent’s Zone schools doubled their budgets when San Francisco received a threeyear School Improvement Grant.
Yet, what stood out the most to this veteran principal was the support he received
when embedded within a network of learning opportunities and efforts to improve
services and supports provided to students

and schools. During his time working at the
middle school in the Superintendent’s Zone,
this principal started to see his school make
improvements together with advancements
in his own leadership.
According to the principal, “My focus is
sharper, my urgency is heightened, and my
use of data is more precise. My evaluation of
teachers is more sophisticated.” He singled
out the practice of Instructional Rounds as a
key element for his learning.
“You can learn a lot from your colleagues
when you are given the opportunity for discussion,” he said. “You put a challenge out
and have colleagues there to help. In Instructional Rounds, you trust those leaders
to give you the good advice that you need in
a critical way, but not a judgmental way.”
San Francisco USD Superintendent
By Laura Wentworth, Ritu Khanna
and Regina Piper