This ASCD Study Guide is designed to enhance your understanding of Building Leadership Capacity in Schools by helping you make connections between the text and the school or school district in which you work.

The Study Guide can be used after you have read the entire book or as you finish each chapter. The study questions provided are not meant to cover all aspects of the book; rather, they are intended to address selected ideas we thought might warrant further reflection.

Most of the questions contained in this Study Guide are ones you can think about on your own. But you might also consider pairing with another colleague or forming a group of people who have read (or are reading) Building Leadership Capacity in Schools. In addition to the study questions, this guide contains several activities under the heading "Extending Your Learning." We encourage you to try some of these activities, individually or with others; you might also consider modifying them for use in any professional development you might be involved in on the topic of building leadership capacity.

Chapter 1: What Is Leadership Capacity?

Questions to Reflect On

1. Can you think of a time when a key person—perhaps the principal or a key teacher leader—left the school in which you were working and the reform efforts fell apart? Describe what happened.
2. What does the author mean by "leadership capacity"?
3. What is the relationship between the breadth of participation and the skillfulness of that participation?
4. How does the author define "leadership"? How does this definition differ from your own definition? What are the implications of such a definition?
5. Do you agree that traditional definitions of leadership have kept us from achieving broad-based participation? How?
6. The "reciprocal learning processes" of constructivist leadership can also be viewed as constructivist adult learning and a cycle of inquiry. Are any of these processes in place in your school or organization? Give an example. If not, what strategies could be used to introduce them?
7. The author provides five key assumptions underlying leadership. Critique these assumptions. Are there any assumptions that you would add, change, leave out?

Chapter 2: Connecting Capacity Building with Leadership

Questions to Reflect On

1. When you have previously used the term "capacity building," what did that mean? How does the concept change when you add the word "leadership"?
2. The author describes leadership capacity as broad-based, skillful participation in the work of leadership. The matrix in Figure 2.1 suggests four school profiles based upon the relationship between these two dimensions. Do these descriptions make sense to you? Can you find your school in one of the quadrants or in a blend of quadrants?
3. Each of the quadrants addresses five key factors of leadership capacity. How do these factors interact to create the culture of a school?
4. How does the role of the principal differ from the traditional model if one of the goals of school improvement is to build leadership capacity? Give examples.
5. If you are a principal, how would you assess your own behaviors in this regard? If you are not a principal, how would you assess principals that you've known and worked with?

Chapter 3: Arabesque Elementary School

Questions to Reflect On

1. This chapter is the story of a school with low leadership capacity. Have you ever had experience with such a school? What was that like? What role did you play?
2. Teachers at Arabesque assumed little responsibility for the learning of children or the improvement of the school. Describe three indicators from the story that made this condition apparent.
3. What qualities did the new principal bring to Arabesque? Why were those qualities well suited for this culture?
4. The author suggests that limited reflective attitudes and practices can be a serious deterrent to both human and school development. What strategies have you found successful in building reflective practice in your school? What other ideas might you test?
5. The author claims that the educators, students, and parents of Arabesque are "no different from those found in many places." How can a school culture be so powerful as to bend and shape human behaviors in negative, nonproductive ways?
6. If a culture can do the opposite—that is, shape human behaviors in extraordinary, productive ways—what might you do immediately to intervene in your own school culture?
7. In the discussion of Arabesque, several actions were described. How else might you have handled this situation?

Chapter 4: Belvedere Middle School

Questions to Reflect On

1. This chapter is the story of a school with moderate leadership capacity. Have you ever worked in such a school? What happened? What role did you play?
2. "Pockets of resistance" frequently accompany change efforts. How might they have been prevented in the first place? Once they have solidified, how can they be addressed?
3. Marie appeared to be an effective principal, yet there were some school culture areas that she neglected or failed to perceive as important. What were they? What might she have done differently?
4. What mechanisms or strategies might the school have set in place during the spring and summer after Maria left so that the transition might have been more smooth?
5. Why is leadership capacity building a more comprehensive and essential approach to long-range improvement than a more narrow focus on curriculum, staff development, or discipline? If you disagree with this thesis, explain why.
6. Reflect upon the five key features of leadership capacity addressed in the discussion of Belvedere. Which one or ones do you consider most critical to the conditions described? Why?
7. John and the teacher leaders undertook several strategies in the fall of 1997. What strategies would you add? Modify? Leave out? If you could choose only two strategies, which do you consider the most powerful?

Chapter 5: Capricorn High School

Questions to Reflect On

1. High schools are considered among the most difficult of organizations to change (second only to the central office!). Why is that?
2. Describe the role of the principal at Capricorn. Would you consider him a "strong" principal? Why or why not? Has the principal relinquished more authority and responsibility than you would be comfortable with?
3. The author reveals the essence of leadership capacity at Capricorn through faculty dialogue. Why would she have made this choice? What is it about the interactions of people that tells us about leadership and about capacity?
4. Inquiry was a habit of mind at Capricorn. What is your own experience with a culture of inquiry and its effect on the school? Why is inquiry such a compelling way of thinking about our work? What effect does it have on our thinking processes?
5. Observers of high school reform argue that the difficult part of such reform is moving a faculty to the place of mutual respect, participation, and inquiry that Capricorn finds itself in. How do the five key features of leadership capacity building interact to bring about such conditions in the culture?
6. The author suggests that high school reform must be first and foremost cultural reform--an alteration in the beliefs and assumptions of the faculty and community about the school and their own roles in the school. Critique this statement. What critical factors in school reform does it fail to address?
7. The author would argue that once a staff and community learn to solve problems together, any problem is solvable. Do you agree?

Chapter 6: Essential Actions for Building Leadership Capacity in Your School and District

Questions to Reflect On

1. The author suggests that districts need to hire educators with a readiness for leadership work and work to develop them. What are your district and school doing to select and develop educators for leadership?
2. "Getting to know one another" is a simple, yet powerful, preparation for building trusting relationships. What kind of commitment have you made personally to this endeavor? Have you discovered some successful strategies?
3. Complete the staff and school Leadership Capacity Surveys (Appendixes A and B). How would you describe your present skills and conditions regarding leadership capacity? (Note: Individuals need to be familiar with the contents of Building Leadership Capacity in Schools before completing the surveys.)
4. What are some patterns or trends from the surveys that suggest further action? Describe two or three next steps. How will you know you're making progress?
5. Study the Rubric of Emerging Teacher Leadership (Appendix C) individually or in small groups in a faculty meeting. Ask each teacher to identify two areas from this rubric and two areas from the Leadership Capacity Survey as potential professional growth goals.
6. Is inquiry a habit of mind in your school? If so, describe how it works. If not, what compelling question might be used to launch an inquiry of data collection and analysis?
7. How are decisions made in your school and district? Are there opportunities for participation that provide most educators, most students, and many parents a means to be significantly involved in the work of the school?
8. The author suggests that districts need to provide for "high engagement and low bureaucratization." What does—or might—that look like in your district? What obstacles are in the way?

Chapter 7: Questions and a Few Answers

This chapter suggests several additional questions that may be used for reflection on your own practice. Even though the author provides a short answer for each, these answers are necessarily generic and will need to be made specific for your own setting. As you read these questions, consider the following:

1. Is this the way I would answer this question? How would I modify, change, or add to the response?
2. What examples or strategies can I provide that will clarify how this issue is played out in my own school and district?
3. What plans might be made to carry out this idea?
4. What other questions and answers might I add to the chapter? Consider sending them to the author, Linda Lambert, at the Department of Educational Leadership, California State University, Hayward, CA 94542-3080; e-mail: Linlambert@aol.com.

Extending Your Learning

1. With two other colleagues, recall three schools in which you've worked. If possible, include schools other than the ones in which you are now working. Using Figure 2.1, the Leadership Capacity Matrix, discuss and analyze each school. Can you locate each school in the matrix? Did each school improve? If so, what approaches or strategies accounted for the improvements? If not, what were the significant obstacles?
2. Now consider your current school. Can you locate it in the matrix, or in some blend of the matrix features? Plan three steps for building leadership capacity in your school.
3. Working with your school leadership team or professional development committee, design a faculty meeting that will describe and teach the concept of leadership capacity. What activities, strategies, and materials would you use? Include at least one of the leadership capacity surveys. How would you evaluate your effectiveness?
4. From a district perspective, design a workshop using the three cases from Chapters 3, 4, and 5 as a means of teaching the concept of leadership capacity building. What activities, strategies, and materials would you use? Ask participants to make recommendations for improving district support for building leadership capacity in schools.
5. Design an approach for your schools for extending participation to many who are not directly involved in decision making.
6. Design an additional approach to provide leadership skill development to the entire staff.
7. Hold an exploratory meeting with a local university. Discover how your school can provide regular feedback to the university about the effectiveness of their preparation programs.
8. Working with a group of colleagues, discuss how roles are currently prescribed in your school. How might they be reframed to alter roles and responsibilities with regard to colleagues, administrators, community, parents, and students? Write a letter to the staff outlining your conversation. Ask for feedback.
9. Write a letter to the author, giving your reactions to her book. If your perspective on the topics is quite different, consider using a "point-counterpoint" format.

Building Leadership Capacity in Schools is by Linda Lambert. This 136-page, 6" x 9" book (Product No. 198058) is available from ASCD for $10.95 (ASCD member) and $13.95 (nonmember). Copyright 1998 by ASCD. To order a copy, call ASCD at 1-800-933-2723 (in Virginia 1-703-578-9600) and press 2 for the Service Center. Or buy the book from ASCD's Online Store.