A System of Building Franchises - school self-administration within Edmonton Public Schools system

School Administrator, May, 2001 by Joanne Young

"They know they can question the decision. But once the decision is made, everyone's on board," Dosdall said.

Jennifer Lawley, principal at Ross Sheppard High School, served on the council in 1999-2000. That year, the group focused discussions on how schools could better advocate for public education in light of government funding cuts and the fact only 30 percent of Edmonton's residents had school-age children. The council also addressed school safety in the aftermath of Columbine and other violent incidents in schools.

"He was listening to the schools through the 13 of us," she said.

When Dosdall reorganized the district's management structure, he also instituted a number of initiatives, including a strong focus on student achievement. Every meeting agenda has student achievement penciled in.

Angus McBeath, department head of school and district services in Edmonton, said site-based management alone isn't the answer to higher student achievement unless it is made the primary mission.

"If student achievement is your No. 1 objective, site-based management is the best way to go at it," McBeath said. "But if you don't have good monitoring in the system for results, it's not wise. You have to monitor results and they have to be public."

When Dosdall took over, the district was ranked fourth in student achievement among Alberta's four metropolitan areas. Since then, achievement has gone up each year, with more students in grades 3, 6 and 9 meeting the acceptable standard and the excellence standard. Grade 12 students in the International Baccalaureate program continue to do better than world averages.

Collaborative Solutions

The principals work together to analyze achievement results, set targets for improvement and share best practices.

Lawley said the real push this year was mathematics. "In past years we have not been doing as well as we wanted to," she said. "We've had terrific improvement this year at all levels."

The central office has been a strong partner in that effort.

A year ago, Susan Burghardt-MacNeill was principal of successful Centre High in downtown Edmonton, which offers 18- to 20-year-old students the opportunity to finish high school in a college-like setting. Today, she is in the central office managing a two-year project for the district's high schools with $9 million provided by the Alberta Incentive for School Improvement.

One major project is working with teachers in implementing a new math curriculum and developing district mathematics exams for grades 10 and 11.

"We're looking harder at expected outcomes and finding out so much more needs to be addressed in classroom time," she said.

The school improvement project brings teachers and administrators together across the district to learn from each other about ways to accomplish better student achievement.

Burghardt feels the central office assignment has given her a way to see the bigger picture of how shared leadership can work in the district, not just one high school. Being in the district office and mentored by the superintendent is a terrific professional development opportunity for principals, she said.