Descent From the Top

Descent from the Top Three Levers for Leading from Behind Arriving at High Tech Elementary Explorer (HTeX) a little less than one year ago, I was determined to find a different way to lead — to inspire by lighting a fire within people rather than under. At HTeX, I quickly learned I had no other choice. Three months and three thousand miles ago, I sat stunned and stinging with a group of four leaders working to turn around a large, low-performing dual- language elementary school. As the literacy expert on the team, I took full responsibility for every task, score, and coaching plan related to reading and writing. After adopting Common Core whole hog, designing our own curriculum, cementing our data culture, and pinpointing every gap in student mastery, our team was fragmenting. Teachers were burning out and scores were dropping. We’d lost 19 teachers in two years. We were leading like drill captains, of course the soldiers were walking out — it was unsustainable for those leading from the front and those in the ranks. Perplexed by my role as a leader in today’s high-stakes, no-excuses environment, I packed my car and drove cross-country. I was on a mission to find a space where adults and children did not check their humanity at the door. The High Tech High (HTH) organization includes thirteen elementary, middle, and high schools dedicated to equity through project based learning. Explorer, part of the HTH network, was founded with a focus on social-emotional learning which extends to both the adult and student populations. Language is infused with empathy and deep respect, decisions are shared, and voice and choice reign. This was no place to lead from the top down. In fact, HTH strives to operate with a flat hierarchy, a concept that sounded fantastical the first time I heard it. Back in urbania, we knew that neither workshops nor instructional coaching models adequately provide the 50 hours of support needed to change teacher practice and student outcomes (Gallimore et al., 2009; Killion, 2012). Thus, we had tried to sustain professional learning communities, teacher leadership, and decision-making by consultation, vote, and consensus (Patterson et al., 2002). But our efforts didn’t always secure teachers’ commitment to both remain with the organization and to continue to learn and grow within a community of colleagues (Cherkowski, 2012). At Explor er, teachers had decided to launch a peer coa ching mod el for the school year. I took on the role of environmental engineer, supporting Explorer

Descent From the Top

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