Chapter 4: Leadership For Equity: Distributed Leadership in Linked Learning Schools

For over a hundred years high school classrooms in the United States have looked much the same: students sitting in rows with the teacher in the front of the room lecturing (Tyack, 1974; Oakes & Saunders, 2008). Similarly, the organization of schools has changed very little, with the principal as the leader, the teachers organized by subject area and teaching in isolated classrooms, and the students sorted onto academic or vocational tracks based on their perceived ability and potential (Graham, 2005). This efficient, but inequitable approach to schooling has been challenged over the course of the 20th century through reforms such as career-thematic coursework, college prep for all, and differentiated instruction.