Shared Leadership Creates Opportunities

  The Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation’s administrative team has previously written about Level 5 Leaders.  Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, describes these leaders as, “Individuals who blend extreme personal humility with intense professional will.”  “Shared Leadership” is one of the TVSC’s core values that was developed through a collaborative process.  Through the identification of Level 5 Leaders within our schools and the community, Tippecanoe Valley presents it’s stakeholders with opportunities for shared leadership to enhance the overall educational environment it presents to its students. 

The coaching model has been a significant change agent in the implementation of cutting-edge, scientifically based K-12 instructional practices in the areas of language arts and math.  Leading collaboration activities, providing professional development, and modeling instruction are expectations for our coaches as they collaborate with faculty members.  The effective implementation of these activities takes shared leadership responsibilities by both parties.  Peter Drucker, defined the “coaching” process in four basic roles.  Mentor for guidance, teacher to develop skills, judge to evaluate progress, and encourager to cheer them on.  Through the shared leadership responsibilities, student achievement has improved within the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation.       

Guided Reading Instruction (SWOOP Program) provides several opportunities for shared leadership amongst faculty and staff members. The general education teacher, reading interventionist, and three instructional assistants work with students in small groups to provide guided reading instruction at the students’ level.  Open communication must exist between each of the adults working with students to ensure the most effective instruction possible as students increase levels of achievement.  This instructional philosophy is based on scientifically based best practices such as building social and collaborative activities with opportunities for discussion and instruction.  Responsibility for student achievement is shared by all who work directly with students.     

School improvement teams at each of the buildings within the school corporation provide opportunities for shared leadership to facilitate positive changes.  Teams are currently working on revisions of student attendance policies, building awareness of the Common Core Standards, and developing the use of positive behavior intervention systems.  As stakeholders work through shared leadership practices, positive educational environments for students continue to develop with the input of several different individuals.  Many groups are represented within the school corporation through this process. 

Casey Stengel, the great baseball manger, once said, “Getting good players is easy.  Getting ‘em to play together is the hard part.”  The effectiveness of any organization, whether it’s a school, church, or business is dependent upon the ability of individuals to focus on the overall values and make disciplined decisions that positively affect those established values.  At Tippecanoe Valley, the core value of shared leadership has yielded many positive opportunities for students and stakeholders.  

Blaine Conley, Akron Elementary Principal

Core Values: Shared Leadership

                        A well-defined set of core values is at the center of any successful organization.  These beliefs are not only discussed but lived every day, and they guide our decisions as we build relationships with students to better prepare them for life after high school.  Through our administrative team’s studies we identified five core values; Consistently Put Kids First, Shared Leadership, Differentiated Instruction—meeting Students at Their Ability Level, Collaboration, and Build Positive Relationships with Stakeholders. 

            At Tippecanoe Valley High School, we have been able to help students and staff move into leadership roles that have benefited the school and community while helping them to grow as individuals.  This core value, shared leadership, has been instrumental in moving our school forward both academically and socially.  By involving teachers and students in key decisions there is more chance that they will have buy in to a new program, class, or cause.

            Literacy has been a focus at our high school.  The leadership that is displayed by the teachers, Doug Makula and Kris Walker, who volunteered to lead our efforts has been tremendous.  They developed incentives for students who met reading goals including the “Read Around the World” program and this year’s theme “Reading to the Moon.”  By building relationships with students, they got students interested in books by highlighting the book of the month, as well as having students choose books for us to buy for the library.

            Relationship building is a key component in any organization.  No student group in our high school is better than our Peer Facilitator class at helping to create a school culture of caring and respect.  Started five years ago through student leadership, students are trained at peer mediation techniques.  These students also trained in I-SAFE, an online safety program that high school students teach to middle school and elementary students.

            The student advisory council works with me and our assistant principal, Mike Schmidt in developing leadership skills in our students.  Made up of student council members from all grade levels these students volunteer to come in at 7:00 in the morning every other Wednesday to help learn about their own leadership styles and how they might have a positive affect on their school and community.  We have challenged our students to identify a problem within the school or community and help create solutions for that problem.  Students have already raised money for a Lupus-Walk in Mentone on October 23, at 10:00 am.

Through shared leadership we have been able to move Tippecanoe Valley High School forward and provide opportunities for our students and staff to better themselves, their school and their community.