Capacity Building Concepts in Practice
Deanne Stowe
Leadership that improves
school capacity for
improvement employs:
Purpose of staff development
EDCI 613
There are two main tiers to In my last job, special ed. In the school where I conducted
manifesting a true purpose of teachers and our co-teaching my interview, special ed.
staff development. First is that partners participated in an in- teachers and their co-teaching
“professional development house training with our own partners also participated in the
students in our own classrooms co-teaching training. The
must be tailored to address the
on how to better “team teach” reason it failed to maximize
difficulties encountered by real
together. school capacity for
students in real classrooms.”
improvement was that there
(Elmore, 2002, p. 7)
was no follow-up. Staff
Secondly, that “educators learn development is only effective if
more powerfully in its application in the classroom
is examined, critiqued and
concert with others who are
shared with others in similar
struggling with the same
teaching assignments.
problems” (Elmore, 2002, p. 8)
and sharing in the experience
presently and in the time to
come increases a school’s
capacity for improvement.

Reflective Practice
Formal Teacher Leadership
Roles
Danielson, C. (2006). Teacher Leadership That Strengthens Professional Practice. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development.
Examining and evaluating
one’s teaching practice “is both
an individual and a social
process.” (Elmore,2002, p.
17)Teachers must ponder over
what they have done all along
and challenge themselves to
change when necessary.
A position created to “enlist
teachers as partners in school
improvement.” (Danielson,
2006, p. 18)
Capacity Building Concepts in Practice
In NC all 2ndyear teachers
completed a portfolio that
required them to analyze their
teaching and reflect on what
they saw. This took place
approximately 8 years ago.
By tradition and state law
schools in NC must have a
School improvement team of
which a school improvement
Chair is to be a teacher within
that specific school. At my
former school the SIT came up
with a fantastic innovation to
mentor “at-risk” students.
Each teacher was asked to pick
a hobby of our choice and then
create a club that met twice
monthly. Clubs were the
vehicle that allowed teachers to
relax and bond with kids who
shared a common interest.
Deanne Stowe
EDCI 613
Though this was a good idea in
theory, the added work load to
a beginning teacher was a bit
taxing for the new teacher and
in turn drove some teachers
away from being true reflective
practitioners.
Though it was an effective SIT,
the subcommittees that were
supposed to meet to focus on
smaller issues, did not occur.
This break-down in
communication hindered the
effectiveness of the school
improvement process.
 Capacity Building Concepts in Practice
Deanne Stowe
EDCI 613

Elmore, R. (2002). Bridging the Gap between standards and achievement: The imperative for professional development in education.