Leading To Learn

As an elected School Board member I am part of a six person leadership team that makes policy decisions for Alameda schools. In my leadership role I want encourage dialogue within the Alameda community about education. This summary as well my summary of Leading Change are intended to provide a framework for discussions as it relates to Educational Equity/Excellence in Alameda.

On a district level we need to recognize the impact of the District practices on equitable educational access. In order to create capacity for sustainable, district-wide instructional delivery improvement we need to study other district models.

With the June 24th, 2003 passage of the AUSD Strategic Plan for 2003-2008, the questions that arises for me is: What does “Student Success – Whatever It Takes” really mean for Alameda schools? As one of the leaders, how I can facilitate equity and excellence for Alameda schools?By 2010, and two new Superintendents, the question still remains? The school board adopted a Master Plan.

The Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy's Leading for Learning framework with its corresponding Sourcebook . The framework is not prescriptive but rather a reflective process that allows Alameda to develop its own answers to difficult questions on education.

Certainly, the 150 pages of content is a lot of material to digest. Fundamentally, the framework focuses on the principle of "learning”. There are three domains where learning occurs:

1. Student learning
2. Professional learning
3. System learning

For definitions of the three domains, click on Learning.

Acting on three domains there are five areas of action:

1. Establishing a focus on learning – persistently and publicly focusing our own attention and others on learning and teaching
2. Building professional communities that value learning – nurturing work cultures that value and support teachers’ learning
3. Engaging external communities that matter for learning – building relationships and securing resources from outside groups that can foster students’ or teachers’ learning
4. Acting strategically and sharing leadership – mobilizing effort along multiple “pathways” that lead to student, professional or system learning, and distributing leadership across levels and among individuals on different positions
5. Creating coherence – connecting student, professional and system learning with one another and with learning goals

I encourage each of you to participate in this dialogue. Send me an Email or start a conversation when you see me.

Addtional Resource

Principles of Teaching and Learning

Send mail to mikemcmahonausd@yahoo.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: July 2, 2003

Disclaimer: This website is the sole responsibility of Mike McMahon. It does not represent any official opinions, statement of facts or positions of the Alameda Unified School District. Its sole purpose is to disseminate information to interested individuals in the Alameda community.