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Next Steps

The Legacy is intended as a first step in assisting school leaders on the journey of developing a highly effective leadership team, with the ultimate goal of improving student learning outcomes. This tool used to initiate crucial conversations among school leaders in a manageable and practical approach, rooted in the everyday operations of the school that will lead to consensus in critical areas and lay the foundation for systematic, focused, effective efforts by all.

Documenting
Once a team has begun contemplating how they wish to operate together to accomplish the school system's goals, the next step is to document the team's common understanding by developing a written operational agreement to guide the team. This guide can also serve as a hiring framework when selecting an administrator to join the team, and an orientation guidebook for leaders new to the system.

Strategic Planning
Clarifying desired responsibilities and roles within the organization will lead to recognition of the gap between the current and the desired situations. The next step is to focus on the area of operation that provides the greatest leverage for improving student learning, and to develop a strategic plan to bridge the gap in that area. The plan should identify action steps, professional development needs, resources required, and indicators for measuring progress and celebrating success. Contact your membership association for support with strategic planning.

VELA Process
The Discussions generated by the Legacy may expose areas where there is lack of consensus among the team; They may raise questions about the ability of any one person to accomplish all that is expected of a role; and they may identify organizational strengths as well as trouble spots. Team dialogue may also raise awareness of a lack of common assumptions regarding how the system operates.

To undertake a more in-depth reflection of their system as a whole teams may consider engaging outside consultation. The VELA has piloted a process for helping teams to find the assumptions under which they want to operate, coming to a common understanding of the basis of their work, identifying the activities within each functional area that need to be accomplished as a district to promote student learning, clarifying the roles and responsibilities of all members, and determining indicators to evaluate progress and celebrate success. Contact your membership association to learn more about this potential process for your team.