ing because we are building on the critical
components they have established as the
governing body for the school district. In
addition, annually, when the goals of the
superintendent are constructed, they are
built to support the LCAP goals. This
same approach is used for the goals of cabi-
net and the principals.
Engaging stakeholders in the change
process is vital for collaboration and sus-
tainable change. The LCAP and its asso-
ciated stakeholder engagement has proven
valuable in bringing about new innovations
and the resulting change within our orga-
nization. Listening to the many different
perspectives of various stakeholder groups
allows us to improve our system, while pro-
viding opportunities to receive feedback
from all groups within the organization.
In order to help people be more accept-
ing of innovation, we first define our cur-
rent reality in relation to the new idea and
also conduct research on the best practices
related to the topic. This approach helps
us identify the gaps in our current services
and gain the relative advantage by provid-
ing evidence of what the innovation could
become.
When new ideas are initiated by stake-
holder groups, they are more likely to align
with the values of the community and the
organization, which minimizes the road-
blocks throughout the change process.
We have experienced that new ideas not
aligned with our organizational or com-
munity values tend to lose momentum as
they progress through stakeholder groups.
Conversely, when meaningful change is
brought forth, it tends to gain momentum
and urgency as it makes its way through
various groups that view it as beneficial.
This is a strong signal to us that the change
is compatible to our values.
Perhaps one of the strongest methods
of collaborative goal setting is the LCAP.
In Romoland, we have embraced the con-
cept of working with our stakeholders to
make decisions for our school district. We
use our real-time data and educational
research in order to make informed deci-
sions. We have a working group of 35-40
people who engage in collaborative work-
shops focused on implementing services
#LeadershipMatters
When meaningful change is brought forth, it tends to gain
momentum and urgency as it makes its way through various
groups that view it as beneficial.
we believe are needed to achieve the re-
sults we desire.
Our workshops are organized by topic,
so our stakeholders only need to consider
one objective at a time. We have three goals
in our LCAP that serve as the foundation
for any initiative that is implemented or
dollar that is spent. Our stakeholders have
determined that these are the most critical
areas of focus; therefore we are commit-
ted to ensuring our actions and funds are
aligned with these goals.
Aligning expectations
“District Leadership that Works,” clearly
supports the idea that districts and schools
that are tightly coupled experience in-
creased results as compared to those that
are loosely coupled. This premise led us on
our journey to align the expectations of our
instructional supports and create systems
that reinforce non-negotiable goals for
teaching and learning.
The district set the expectation that our
site administrators position themselves as
instructional leaders on their campus. This
did not mean they had to have all of the
answers about effective pedagogy or be the
best teacher at their site. What it did mean
is that we expected them to spend the bulk
of their time engaging in conversations
about teaching and learning with staff, ob-
serving classrooms, and providing mean-
ingful feedback to teachers.
We set the expectation that principals
visit every classroom every week, at mini-
mum. The basic idea behind this expecta-
tion is to lead by example and learn by ex-
ample. We also saw this as an opportunity
to align our daily actions with the things
we value most: teaching and learning.
We want our principals to have a solid
understanding of how their teachers teach,
what kinds of strategies are utilized, and if
there is appropriate focus on student mas-
tery of the desired learning objectives. The
significant time spent in the classrooms al-
lows principals to see first-hand the quality
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