Building Distributed Leadership
in the York City School District:
An Overview
Building Staff Meetings
University of Pennsylvania
April, 2015

 Agenda
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Overview: Goals of the original
Annenberg and Archdiocese projects
Why distributed leadership?
What is distributed leadership?
Design plan and expected outcomes
Benefits to you and your school
Commitments from you and your school
Contact information

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 Overview
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Funded originally at $4.9 million by the
Annenberg Foundation.
A 4-year project focused on 16
Philadelphia schools; 4 elementary
schools in year 1; 2 elementary, 1 middle,
and 1 high school in year 2; 4 elementary
and 4 high schools in year 3.
Written and directed by Dr. John
DeFlaminis, Executive Director of the Penn
Center for Educational Leadership.
Targeted to the training and development
of model distributed leadership teams.
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 Overview
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A second 4-year project funded at $3.4
million.
Focused on 19 schools (reduced to 17
after merger); 4 high schools, 13
elementary school in 2 cohorts of 10 and
9 schools.
Written and directed by Dr. John
DeFlaminis, Executive Director of the Penn
Center for Educational Leadership.
Targeted to the training and development
of model distributed leadership teams.
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 Overview: Goals of the Projects
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To develop model distributed
leadership teams and school
communities in all schools over 4
years.
To implement a targeted
professional development strategy
for distributed leadership.

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 Overview: Goals of the Projects
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To develop effective teacher instructional
leaders and distributed leadership teams
who can support principals and their
schools in achieving and sustaining
school-level instructional leadership.
To implement other leadership-building
strategies including professional learning
communities and coaching to support the
teams and achieve improved instructional
focus and student outcomes.
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Why distributed leadership?
Then
Now

De?nition of distributed
leadership

Summary Research –
Why Distributed Leadership
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Then
Effect of leadership on
school improvement
Lone instructional leader
Talents of teachers
untapped
Unsustainable
Demands of change
Need more leadership
capacity
CPRE saw patterns of
distributed leadership in
reforming initiatives

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Now
High achievement schools
attribute success to
distributed leadership
Leadership has more
influence when distributed
Greater teacher
participation
More effective retention
and succession
Important organizational
and change outcomes
Distributed leadership
positively impacts student
achievement
More sustainable means
of building a learning
focused climate
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 Why Distributed Leadership: Then
Many believe and have written that:
“The days of the principal as the lone
instructional leaders are over. We no
longer believe that one administrator can
serve as the instructional leader for an
entire school without the substantial
participation of other educators (Elmore,
2000; Lambert, 1998; Lambert et al.,
1995; Lambert, Collay, Dietz, Kent &
Richert, 1997; Olson, 2000; Poplin, 1994;
Spillane, Halverson & Diamond, 2001).”
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 Why Distributed Leadership: Then
The old model of formal, one-person
leadership leaves the substantial
talents of teachers largely untapped.
Improvements achieved under this
model are not easily sustainable;
when the principal leaves, promising
programs often lose momentum and
fade away. This model suffers from
what Fullan (2003) calls the
individualistic fallacy.
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 Why Distributed Leadership: Then
The process of change required to
move to the next levels of reform will
be incredibly demanding. What is
needed is not a few good leaders, but
large numbers to make the
extraordinary efforts required (Fullan,
2003).

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 Why Distributed Leadership: Then
“At the Consortium for Policy
Research in Education (CPRE) at the
University of Pennsylvania, in their
study of a broad range of school
reform initiatives…they all hold one
thing in common: They all implicitly
distribute leadership across multiple
individuals in schools” (Supovitz,
2000).
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 Why Distributed Leadership: Now
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School leadership has a greater
influence on schools and students
when it is widely distributed.
Some patterns of distribution are
more effective than others.
Leithwood, Day, Sammons, Harris & Hopkins (2006)
Seven Strong Claims about Successful School
Leadership

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 Why Distributed Leadership: Now
Schools with the highest student
achievement attributed it, in part, to
distributed sources of leadership (i.e.
school teams, parents and students).
Leithwood, Day, Sammons, Harris & Hopkins (2006)
Seven Strong Claims about Successful School
Leadership

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 Why Distributed Leadership: Now
Some positive consequences of distributed
leadership are:
Greater teacher participation and engagement
 Better teacher morale and self efficacy
 Factor in organizational turnaround and
improvement
 Succession and retention
 Improved organizational outcomes
 Improvement in student achievement
Harris (2008)
Forging Connections: Distributed Leadership
and Organizational Outcomes
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 Why Distributed Leadership: Now
Research indicates that the quality of
leadership is a key determinant of all
highly effective and improving
organizations
Townsend (2007)

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 Why Distributed Leadership: Now
Leadership is second only to teaching
and learning in its impact on student
learning.
Leithwood, et al., (2007)
Impact of Leadership on Learning

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 Why Distributed Leadership: Now
Analysis of data collected from
teachers and students in 191
elementary schools over a period of
four years suggests that distributed
leadership impacts positively upon
student achievement.
Hallinger & Heck (2008)
Assessing the Contribution of Distributed
Leadership to School Improvement and Growth in
Math Achievement
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 Why Distributed Leadership: Now
Scholars now suggest that distributed
leadership could provide a more
sustainable means of building the
type of learning-focused climate that
characterizes high performing
schools.
Day, Gronn & Salas (2006)
Leithwood, Anderson, Mascall & Strauss (in press)
Leithwood, Louis, Anderson & Wahlstrom (2004)
Spillane (2006)
as cited in Hallinger & Heck (2009)
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What is distributed
leadership?

Definition of Distributed Leadership
“[Leadership refers to] those activities
that are either understood by, or
designed by, organizational members
to influence the motivation,
knowledge, affect, and practice of
other organizational members in the
service of the organization's core
work.”
Spillane (2006)
Distributed Leadership Module
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 Definition of Distributed Leadership
As a social influence process,
leadership permeates organizations
rather than residing in particular
people or formal positions of
authority. As a result, leadership can
come from and be exercised by a
wide range of participants.

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 Definition of Distributed Leadership
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Distributed leadership does not mean that
“everyone leads,” nor does it imply the
absence of formal leadership
arrangements.
Rather, distributed leadership is defined
as an emergent property of a collection of
individuals or an organization, a form of
organizational capacity that is fluid and
dynamic.
Alma Harris (2007, 2008)
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 What is Distributed Leadership?
The Leadership Practice Aspect
Leaders
Administrators, Specialists, Teachers

Leadership Practice
is in the interaction
Situations
Tools, Routines,
Structures

Followers
Teachers, Administrators,
Specialists
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The Design Plan of the Project

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Design Plan:
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Spillane’s work at Northwestern University
and our work at Penn will guide the
training and development of distributed
teams (3-7 teachers and the principal) in
this project.
All will be comprehensively trained as
instructional leadership teams, using
modules designed and based on Spillane’s
work and developed at the Penn Center
for Educational Leadership. Many are
adapted from Penn’s Mid-Career Doctoral
Program, the Aspiring Principal's Program
and Academy for Leadership in
Philadelphia Schools (ALPS).
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 Design Plan:
Hackman (2002) found five conditions that
increased the likelihood of effectiveness when
a team:
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Is a real team rather than a team in name only
Has a compelling direction for its work
Has an enabling structure that facilitates rather
than impedes teamwork
Operates within a supportive organizational context
Has available ample expert coaching in teamwork

He views the main responsibility of leaders as
creating and maintaining the five conditions
that increase the chances that a team will,
over time, become increasingly effective in
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carrying out its work.

 Design Plan:
Distributed leadership teams will receive
training to lead schools in instructional
improvement and student achievement.
Some key aspects of this work are:
Developing a shared vision of informed
practice and supplemental training in best
practices in instruction.
 Developing professional learning
communities (focused on instructional
improvement) in each school.
 Developing capacity for analysis and
understanding of student work and data.
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 Overall Project Findings
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The DL Project successfully identified and developed
leadership teams that were significantly higher
functioning than were leadership teams in comparison
schools.
Principals and team leaders forged new working
relationships that productively expanded the
leadership capacity in the participating schools.
Teachers developed leadership capacity and took on
leadership roles on their teams and with their
colleagues.
There was substantial evidence of positive impacts on
the instructional practices of teachers who were the
targets of team member action plans.
Supovitz & Riggan, Evaluation of the Distributed
Leadership Project, March 15, 2012
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 Overall Project Findings (cont’d)
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Team members worked strategically to change
instruction through a variety of approaches and
targeting a variety of areas that they determined
to be their school’s greatest needs.
Case studies showed several examples of
leadership team members exerting influence with
other teachers and positively influencing
instruction.
The leadership practices of leadership team
members are changed by the initiative
Distributed Leadership increased leadership team
effectiveness and culture
Supovitz & Riggan, Evaluation of the Distributed
Leadership Project, April 16, 2010 and March 15, 2012
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Bene?ts to You Your School

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Benefits
Over 100 hours of high quality
professional development and support
for teacher leaders and principals will
be delivered by local and national
experts and Penn faculty with a
certificate documenting the extensive
leadership training completed at
Penn.

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 Benefits
All principals and teachers on the
teams will receive a $2,000 stipend
for year one and $2,000 for each
additional year for participation in the
summer training and all project
activities.

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 Benefits
Leadership coaching and mentoring
will be provided to support the teams
in creating a distributed leadership
school setting. Other school and
individual supports will be provided
including professional development
targeted to identified needs.

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 Benefits
This project supports your York City School
District plans and allows for vertical
communication within schools and
horizontal communication between schools.
Elements of the project will support the
current initiatives and contribute to
increased student achievement and building
professional learning communities. You will
have many ways to share successes with
colleagues on an on-going basis.
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 Future Benefits
Schools completing this work will be
included in a nationwide network of
distributed leadership schools where
progress and developments can be
shared.

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Commitments

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Commitments
Schools interested will be encouraged
to obtain a 2/3 vote of agreement by
the building staff. Principals, school
representatives (where appropriate)
and distributed leadership team
members will be requested to adhere
to the agreements in place.

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 Commitments
All participants will be required to commit to
the conditions that support the initiative.
They are:
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A commitment to attend and complete all training
for the Project.
A commitment of 1-2 Saturdays and some released
time throughout the year for follow-up training.
Assist and help manage the ongoing development
of the professional learning communities with a
focus on instruction.
Coach and support professional learning
communities.
Develop and promote a shared vision of informed
practice.
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 Commitments
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Support and regularly update and share best
practices in instruction and curricular areas with
colleagues.
Assist teachers who are not members of the team
in analyzing, understanding and using student
data.
Support the principal and each other in efforts to
improve the content knowledge and instructional
strategies of teachers and, as a result, the student
achievement in your school as well as other
participating schools.
Work collaboratively with the principal and other
teacher leaders in promoting quality instruction for
all students.
One week of training in the summer.
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 Commitments
The additional commitments required from
principals and assistant principals are:
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Oversee the work of the distributed leadership
team in the area of instruction to maximize the
team’s effectiveness
Complete a short monthly progress report
Participate in training, to lead the selection of
teacher leaders, arrange schedules and other
activities consistent with their role in building an
effective team
Administer yearly goals consistent with the
distributed leadership objectives.
Utilize leadership coaches to support the
distributed leadership team
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 Commitments
The additional commitments required
from teacher leaders are:
 Completion

of an application and
interview for the teacher distributed
leadership positions.
 To commit to 2-4 hours per week beyond
or within the instructional day for the
teacher leader work (in addition to
occasional released time).

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 We would be pleased to talk with you
or come to your school, if necessary,
to discuss the project with your
faculty. You can reach us through the
contact information on the next slide.

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 Contact
Dr. John DeFlaminis:
jadeflam@gse.upenn.edu
Dr. James O‘Toole:
jotoole@gse.upenn.edu
Penn Center for Educational Leadership
Graduate School of Education
University of Pennsylvania
3440 Market Street, Suite 500
Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 573 5511
Fax: (215) 573 9856
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