Spotlight on Leadership and School Change

Scratch the surface of a successful school and you will find a web of interactions that is the root of its success. Who is it that envisions, inspires, cajoles, and rallies all the various players in and around a school toward any improvement goal? Often it's a superintendent, a principal, a professor, a special teacher, or a parent. In a word, it's a leader. This latest volume in the Harvard Education Letter Spotlight Series brings together 20 recent articles that highlight the ways leadership has made a difference in schools. Whether the topic is teacher collaboration or parent involvement, special education or closing the achievement gap, these stories illustrate how education leaders-including some of the most renowned thinkers in the field-have sought to effect change by bringing best practices to where students are: right in the classroom.