Spring, 2002, No. 12 National Network of Partnership Schools
When Leaders Change: Will Your Partnership Program Continue?
Joyce L. Epstein
DirectorLeaders change. Constantly. Inevitably. Educators are promoted, retire, move, or change positions. Families move and change schools with their children. In the National Network of Partnership Schools, over one-third of key leaders in schools, districts, and states have changed over the past three years. What does this mean for your program of partnerships?
Plan for Change
At the NNPS Leadership Development Workshop last fall, about seventy members discussed how to prepare for change to ensure successful transitions and continuous progress in partnership programs. Members agreed that, in addition to providing information, it is important to capture new leaders’ imagination and support for school, family, and community partnerships. The following actions were recommended:
Prepare a packet—not too overwhelming—with summaries of events and data for the new leader to see how well-planned partnerships increase family and community involvement, and affect student achievement and behavior.
Have a face-to-face meeting to discuss the strengths and challenges of the program; how good partnerships fit the new leader’s goals; and how the new leader may want to strengthen and improve partnerships.
Arrange for the new leader to meet an Action Team for Partnerships to learn about its work at the school level. Make sure families are represented.
Show the NNPS video; provide a copy of the Handbook and the poster of six types of involvement; and share a sample One-Year Action Plan to orient the new leader to how school teams plan goal-oriented partnerships.
Continue to share information and ideas about partnerships with the new leader on a regular schedule.
Provide training on program development each summer or fall to all new members of school Action Teams for Partnerships and new leaders. Encourage new leaders to attend the NNPS fall or spring Leadership Development Conference to meet other leaders and gain ideas of how partnerships can help meet school, district, or state goals for student success.
NNPS Key Contacts may take new positions. It was strongly recommended at the fall workshop that theyorganize records, files, materials, publications, and contact information to make it easy for a new Key Contact to take over. This may make the difference between a program that progresses and one that falters or fails.
Welcome Change
Sometimes change is good for partnerships. In the National Network, some school leaders and assistants became directors of district programs, and others were promoted to lead state offices of family and community involvement, thereby helping many schools develop partnership programs. Last year, most of the winners of NNPS Partnership School Awards had welcomed and integrated new principals on their Action Teams for Partnerships and sustained progress on partnerships. Two Partnership District Award winners were improving their programs of partnership with new leaders.
Most leaders change during the summer. Now is a good time for Action Team chairpersons to check if new team members will be needed for the 2002-03 school year. District and state leaders should be alert to new colleagues, principals, supervisors, or superintendents who will need to be oriented about the on-going work on school, family, and community partnerships.
Finally, members recommended giving new leaders the phone number and e-mail and website addresses of the National Network. NNPS is a ready resource to ensure that research-based programs of school, family, and community partnerships progress, even when leaders change.
