Leading Through Change: Effective Strategies for Large Public Schools and Beyond

Envision how you can cultivate clear communication and cohesive leadership across your community.  

​DR. CRISTINA COMPTON
Director of Program Development
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Building a cohesive community in large public schools, often with over 2,500 students and 200 staff members, presents unique challenges. Fragmented communication and a lack of understanding of roles can hinder unity and the effective implementation of initiatives. However, leveraging the leadership team to clarify roles, expectations, and prioritize students at the center can foster a stronger community.

How can we do this? What might it look like?

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Case study: navigating change & complexity

In my eight years working with a large public school in Georgia, I've seen firsthand the difficulties in maintaining cohesion amidst frequent changes in administration, leadership, and student demographics. Despite well-intentioned systems and structures, the key issue often lies in the communication and understanding of expectations across the school.

For example, at the start of the school year, a new administrator joined the team, and introduced a new unit planning template aimed at enhancing differentiation for ELL and SPED students and using data to improve instruction. However, teachers were frustrated by the lack of clarity and timing of the rollout. It wasn't the plan itself, but rather the manner and timing of its introduction — amid numerous other mandates — that caused frustration. As a result, I worked with the teachers over the course of a day in late August, to unpack and make sense of the unit plan and how it could support them in facilitating their professional learning communities and use data to inform instruction. 

Furthermore, the departure of three seasoned instructional coaches led to the formation of essentially a new team, underscoring the necessity for community-building and standardizing approaches. Thus, on the second day of my visit in August, I collaborated with the coaches to articulate the team's mission and vision, and to devise coaching plans to address specific departmental goals and challenges. This collaborative effort aimed to empower the coaches by instilling in them a sense of purpose and providing clear direction. As I concluded these two days, I felt a sense of achievement, armed with a well-defined plan and next steps.  

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Addressing confusion: building a unified front

​Upon returning in February, however, I encountered more changes and more confusion. A new instructional coach had been added to the team, requiring onboarding and community building. Additionally, a coach expressed uncertainty after participating in a co-teaching session with one of her teachers, recognizing its potential as a powerful support model, but questioning whether it fit within the scope of her role. And another coach wanted to restructure PLCs but was uncertain of administrative approval. This confusion showcased a disconnect between administration, coaches, and teachers.

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Leadership retreat: a strategic approach

​What became apparent to me was the need to strengthen communication and understanding across the school. The lead instructional coach — a seasoned and reliable figure within the school — and I collaborated to reach out to the principal. Together, we arranged a leadership retreat with the aim of addressing these challenges.

We worked side by side in planning the retreat, focusing on the following objectives:

1. Engaging key stakeholders
Based on my conversations with teachers and teacher leaders, there was an overwhelming number of meetings taking place, many of which felt unnecessary and unproductive. This also contributed to confusion as the information trickled down from person to person, risking various interpretations and varying implementations. We wanted to reduce this risk by ensuring essential stakeholders — principal, APs, instructional coaches, and department chairs — were present at the retreat, to share perspectives and make informed decisions.

2. Building community and fostering relationships
Large schools make it harder to feel connected across the larger number of teachers and leaders. The retreat was intended to be an opportunity for leaders to connect personally and professionally, fostering trust and shared responsibility. 

3. Establishing priorities
It became clear to me that the principal and his cabinet knew what the goals of the school were, but not so much the other leaders across the school. The retreat aimed to establish clear goals and priorities, ensuring alignment across the school leadership.

4. Clarifying roles and responsibilities
Based on different conversations I was having at different times, it became clear that there was confusion around roles and responsibilities. Reflecting on and understanding each leader's role helps reduce confusion and aligned efforts. For the retreat, we wanted to focus on questions like: How do I understand my role? Does this align with my desires/hopes for this role? How does my role compare, support, and/or overlap with others in the school community? 

5. Planning for the future
One of the pitfalls schools face is too many priorities and initiatives, which can result in feelings of failure and overwhelm. This was the case at this school. We wanted leaders to work on and ideally establish the school calendar together to ensure there was enough time and space for these initiatives to thrive in the subsequent school year. We wanted to ask questions like: What do we need to plan for now to implement successfully in the coming school year? Who is responsible for these various initiatives and how will we monitor progress? 

I just recently debriefed the retreat with the lead coach. Overall, she believed the retreat was a success, leaving participants with a clearer sense of purpose and responsibility. Additionally, she believed it strengthened relationships and understanding of day-to-day roles. 

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Promising practices for all schools: a blueprint for success

Although this article centers on a single school, it highlights several promising practices that can benefit schools of any size. I see the potential for these strategies to be valuable for any organization and its leaders.

• Clarify mission and vision: Ensure all stakeholders understand and are aligned with the school’s mission and vision.
• Create space for all voices: Facilitate open communication and include diverse perspectives in decision-making.
• Plan strategically: Establish clear priorities and structured plans to support initiatives and prevent overwhelm.
• Make time for retreats: Regular retreats can provide dedicated time for reflection, planning, and relationship-building among leaders.

​​By adopting these practices, schools can enhance connection, understanding, and ultimately support the most important goal of all — advancing our students.
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