Chapter 6: Building Capacity to Lead Instructional Improvement in a Title i Middle School

This case profiles the challenging task of initiating the process of instructional improvement in a Title I middle school setting. While the school profiled in this case was classified as “high needs” by its school district due to its low student performance over time, every school has students who are not being served well. In many cases, these students and families have not been served well over time; others have been marginalized by systems and structures that, knowingly or unknowingly, have impacted both their access to learning and their opportunity to be successful. It is the principal’s role to lead the school in planning efforts to identify opportunity gaps and to disrupt systems of inequity to lead to improved learning for all. However, the work of continuous improvement cannot be facilitated alone; this case will profile not only the principal’s role, but also the contributions of instructional leadership team (ILT) members and the principal supervisor in the work of school improvement.