Once a week, all site-based staff convene to learn from our professional staff of experienced teachers, literacy specialists and school reform and change management experts, as well as guest speakers. The workshop setting gives School Innovation Partners (SIPs) the opportunity to share experience, reflect, exchange ideas, plan collaboratively and take advantage of resources from across the organization. The curriculum provides SIPs with the content knowledge, implementation strategies and skills that make them more effective in their service to schools.

SIPs are guided along a charted developmental pathway to build their skills toward mastery in the following competency areas. These leadership skills and high performance qualities are vital to effective execution of our school improvement approach, but they also equip School Innovation Partners with a strong skill set for educational leadership in their future careers. SIPs can expect to develop in all these areas:

General Performance Qualities:

• Creating value through a problem solving orientation
• Demonstrating leadership in racial and cultural competence
• Demonstrating a desire for impact
• Expressing compassion and empathy
• Exerting authoritative influence
• Demonstrating adaptability
• Effectively managing work
• Effectively collaborating
• Deepening self-awareness
• Demonstrating effective communication
• Managing conflict

Specific Role-Related Skills and Competencies:

• Setting and meeting goals and objectives
• Contributing to the effectiveness of leadership structures
• Inspiring a moral purpose for our work
• Using an apprenticeship approach
• Promoting a focal student mindset
• Using and analyzing data
• Deepening knowledge of the CA English Language Arts standards
• Using reading diagnostic assessments
• Investing students in their goals and building student efficacy
• Planning and facilitating collaboration
• Advocating for high quality instruction
• Monitoring through assessment

As site-based staff, SIPs acquire and develop knowledge, skills and strategies through their hands-on work which both strengthens their own capacity and fortifies program development.