How Building Networks Can Build Equity-Driven Leadership

Outline

Welcome and who is in the room (5 mins)
a. Where are you from? What is your role?
b. What brings you to this conversation about equity-focused leadership in rural networks?
c. What do you hope to give and get in today’s session

2.  Orient the participants to the session (5 mins)
a. Introduce the presentation team and CEL
b. Share outcomes and structure of the session

3.  The big why – the critical importance of school leaders especially or students with marginalized identities (creating space for belonging), the unique needs of rural areas, the potential of networks (10 mins)
a. Participants reflect and respond – what resonates? What questions are coming up for you?

4.  A vision for an equity-driven school leader – the 4 Dimensions of School Leadership (15 mins)
a. Participants read and respond to the framework with key questions (jigsaw method)
What connects to your current vision of an equity-focused school leader?
What extends your thinking?
What challenges you? (Harvard Project Zero – Connect/Extend/Challenge)

5.  Introducing the regions – learning about the networks (15 mins)
a.  A bit of background on the regions (Northwest/Central/Eastern WA)
b.  The big why for each regional leader
c.  Make-up of the cohort teams
d.  Goals in each region

6.  Brief summary of the two year approach from CEL (5 mins)
a.  Outcomes and structure for each year

7.  Starting with the students: engaging with a key tool (20 mins)
a.  Overview of the Student Experience Story Guide
b.  Participants practice using the SESG with a partner
 How might a tool like this benefit you in your leadership?
c.  How has the SESG impacted you and your leadership? What have you learned about your students? (one or 2 regions shares examples)

8.  Building a vision: the visioning pyramid and process (25 mins)
a.  Overview of the pyramid and how we use it
b.  Engage in a modified 1-2-4 all process to start to build vision
c.  How has the process and the pyramid structure supported you in your leadership? How has the visioning work supported your ability to improve instruction? (one or two regions shares)


9.  Participant Q & A (10 mins) and application opportunity (10 mins)
10. Reflection, close, survey (5 mins)

Outcomes

Rural districts grapple with building the capacity of equity-driven school leaders. Engage with the promising experience of a two-year approach to learning networks for leaders in two rural regions focused on centering marginalized students’ voices as the heart of leader practice. Experiment with tools designed to support leader ability to listen to students, build vision, and improve student learning and experiences and grapple with artifacts and examples from the field.
Participants will:

1. Reflect on experiences with equity-centered leader networks in their own contexts
2. Define equity-focused leadership and key leadership practices
3. Build a vision for a 2-year approach to supporting rural districts in cultivating equity-focused leadership
4. Examine tools and processes to center marginalized student voice and perspective in equity-focused leadership, including building vision and observing and analyzing classrooms

Supporting research

We draw on a review of two decades of research on assistant principals and the principal pipeline (Goldring & Rubin from Vanderbilt and Herrmann, Mathematica, 2021). The review highlights the importance of intentionally investing in APs to better prepare them for principalship and leverage the experiences they bring, particularly as a racially diverse group.

We draw on research on student belonging (Healy and Stoeman, 2021; Romero, 2018) and from the science of learning and development with emphasis on the integration of academic, social-emotional, and interpersonal (e.g. Lopez, Weiner, Cox, 2024; Darling-Hammond et al, 2019). We draw upon the work of centering student voice and listening leadership (e.g. Saffir, Dugan, 2021).