An instructional rounds team of superintendents takes notes during a classroom visit in the East Valley
School District’s Moxee Elementary School in Yakima, Wash. From left, they are John Schieche, East Valley
School District; Steve Myers, Educational Service District 105; Shane Backlund, Selab
School District; and
Duane Lyons, Naches Valley School District.
for a subsequent group debriefing. The pro
cess engages superintendents in protocols that
define how their visits and discussions are
conducted, what is observed in student-teacher
interactions, how the subject content is being
taught, and what is the classroom’s culture.
Collaborative Solutions
Energized by the ideas at Harvard, the school
leaders returned home to collectively organize
what would become the first replication of
Elmore’s ideas at a location on the West Coast.
The preparations included professional devel
opment from experts nationwide on high-qual
ity practices, such as universal instructional
designs and professional learning communities
for math and reading.
The ESD
105
Lower Yakima Valley Superin
tendents Network began in fall
2006,
bringing
area administrators together at a school in a
different district each month to observe class
rooms and then collaborate on solutions for
problems of instructional practices.
The network progress toward boosting
administrators’ understanding of instructional
leadership eventually spurred two more super
intendent networks in
2008
and
2011
for the
school districts in the other areas of the region.
The increased professional interactions cre
ated through these learning teams now drive
a common, regionwide instructional focus on
improving practice to elevate student learning.
