A distributed or collaborative approach to leadership has been gaining ground in many types of organizations for more than a decade, but it is still an emerging topic in public education. The Fall/Winter 2011 issue of Education Northwest Magazine examines the research base for such an approach and offers a glimpse at how it is beginning to play out in schools and districts across the Northwest region.

The issue includes an interview with Alma Harris, a leading expert in the field, who defines distributed leadership as “[the act of] drawing upon all the potential leadership capability and capacity within the organization in a planned and purposeful way.” Harris also points out that distributed leadership is an “organizational condition” that can take many forms.

In the Northwest, these efforts are often tied to a school or district improvement process, which typically requires the development of a leadership team or other forms of collective decision making. In addition, leadership is frequently promoted through grade-level teams, Response to Intervention teams, and in staff-driven professional development efforts such as professional learning communities.

While many, if not most, schools and districts in our region have implemented these strategies, the stories offered here provide examples of how doing so in a more “planned and purposeful way” can result in staff empowerment and a strong sense of community that can dramatically alter the culture of the organization. As these stories reveal, distributing leadership successfully has as much to do with creating strong relationships based on mutual trust as it does with any single strategy. This issue of Education Northwest Magazine focuses on real people engaged in that very human endeavor.

Education Northwest Magazine is published three times a year. To receive free copies contact Dean Montgomery at 503.275.9519, or view current and past issues of the magazine online.