This is the first of a series of periodic postings on subjects relevant to the work of school leadership, most often touching on the work of Inspiring Educators, an organization dedicated to ‘helping schools inspire so that students succeed’.  Our focus is on growing the leadership presence of school leaders, especially in underserved communities.  We hope that, though our work, we will foster  more positive school climates and staff cultures, which in turn will help others in their work towards closing the achievement gap.

At I.E., we operate with certain foundational beliefs, and I’d like to start these posts by articulating a few of the most prominent core beliefs that animate our work:

o   Schools matter

o   The most effective means of closing the achievement gap is to raise the level of excellence in both district and charter  schools, with a special focus on finding the strategies that will support the learning of students in previously underserved communities.

o   School climate is a key lever in successfully improving student achievement

o   Leadership is critical in all facets of school life, especially around school climate.

o   Leaders who can build empathic bridges, articulate their vision, mobilize their team and align the work around an agreed upon visions are more likely to succeed; these are aspects of leadership presence

o   Leadership presence can be grown

o   We need not be insular in meeting our goal; indeed, strategies for success for growing presence lie outside of the traditional educational leadership training modes

o   Relationships matter everywhere, including – and especially – in this work

Our mission at I.E.  is to provide world-class training in leadership presence to help schools become their most inspiring learning environments.  We help school leaders - principals, teachers and administrators - powerfully enroll others in their vision of how to promote student learning and close the achievement gap.  Our method leverages techniques of the theatre to enhance leadership presence.

In forthcoming posts, I will explore each of these areas of our core beliefs and outline how these beliefs animate out work.