defining, refining, and aligning

Parallel structures and organizational alignment means nimble movement and support for the work in schools.

One of the more critical shifts in support of the move toward personalization was defining and aligning several key roles in the district. In each school in the district there were instructional coaches and teacher librarians. These positions maintained relatively traditional roles in the system and in their buildings, and through the culture of site-based autonomy, the functions of each was different at each site. This variance in function meant that the impact of these key positions was maximized for some, and not for others. Knowing that side-by-side coaching and support would be important to the success of any system-wide change, explicit work was done to define the roles, refine from past successes, and align function to the vision and direction of the district. By aligning parallel structures under technology and teaching/learning, roles of instructional coaches, teacher librarians, and curriculum department specialists support work.