ers. Through reflection, with resilience and
relational trust, teacher-leaders and admin-
istrators can clearly develop and effectively
execute school structures and systems.
Each year, teacher-leaders and admin-
istrators should work together to develop
a clear vision and shared intentions for the
school. Over time, this will lead to clarity of
roles and responsibilities for all stakehold-
ers and maintain relational trust. To achieve
these goals, administrators must move away
from an authoritative leadership model and
intentionally lean into shared leadership.
Engaging in decision-making protocols
together helps teacher leaders feel heard,
stay invested, and strengthen their ability to
serve students. And while shared leadership
is the goal, we all know that some tough de-
cisions are out of the purview of your teach-
ers. However, with relationship trust and
clear communication, your team will know
that you will make the best decisions, as the
leader of the site, for your school.
Two great resources for thinking through
collaboration, understanding the ebb and
f low of teams, and how to utilize data to
produce effective and sustainable systems
and structures are DuFour and Fullan’s
“Cultures Built to Last” in addition to “Got
Data? Now What?” by Laura Lipton and
Bruce Wellman.
The 4-Rs of school transition can sup-
port schools as they work through a variety
of school transitions. With the 4-Rs at the
forefront of administrators’ minds, a shared
leadership model is developed that fosters
strong communication, clear understanding
of roles and responsibilities, and decreases
teache