Visionary Leadership

Public education must have visionary leadership. Leaders —students, teachers, parents, administrators, and public officials —must proceed from a vision and purpose that are well understood and embraced by all participants in the system to which they are responsible.

• Leaders must understand that excessive testing and regulations at the classroom level extinguish the creativity and innovation teachers and students need to transform public education.
  • Teachers should be recognized as leaders in a system that balances top- down vision and management with bottom-up creativity, innovation, and decision-making aligned with the system’s vision and purpose.
  • School, district, state, and national leaders must recognize that experimentation, creativity, and innovation at the classroom level for both teachers and students is the key to a public school system that flourishes and meets the educational needs of
    the future.
  • Educational leaders at the school, district, state, and national levels should be skilled in spotting promising innovations and developing them into widespread, good practices.
  • Educational leaders must hold themselves and their organizations accountable by continually reflecting upon their progress toward achieving their shared vision and purpose.