School leadership lessons from England

Abstract

The flat structure of American schools is ill-suited to meeting today’s demands for education improvement. Historically, American schools have addressed this instructional support deficit with a patchwork of poorly defined roles and responsibilities — underused department chairs, fitful coaching models, and informal teacher leaders who generally lack the training and authority to influence the practice of their peers. One place to look for fresh ideas about leadership development is England. Over the past 15 years, educational reformers in England have made several important revisions in the ways leadership is organized in schools, how leaders are developed, and how leadership is integrated into the larger educational infrastructure. There is much that American policy makers and reformers can learn from these experiences.