In October 2004 a kick-off event for Distributed Leadership was held at Bear Trap Dunes in Ocean View Delaware. Superintendents from Delaware's 19 school districts were invited to bring a team that included the superintendent, a board member, a principal and a teacher from a middle or high school, and a parent or community member to the event. During the two day retreat, participants learned about Delaware's plans for selecting four pilot districts to receive a $25,000 mini-grant from the Wallace grant to develop a model of distributed leadership in a middle or high school. Dr. Joseph F. Murphy, Professor from the Peabody School of Education at Vanderbilt University and consultant to Delaware's SAELP Project, shared current research on the topic of teacher leadership. Dr. James Spillane, researcher on the topic of distributed leadership and professor at Northwestern University shared his thoughts related to distributed leadership across the country and the Delaware plan.

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Distributed Leadership Retreat Summer 2005

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A representative from the National Association of Secondary School Principals informed the group of the current research from the report Breaking Ranks II. Each participant was given a copy of the book so they could read the report and include the recommendations in their plans. Representatives from Learning Focused Schools (Max Thompson), SREB (Gene Bottoms), and Professional Learning Communities (Rich DuFour) shared the objectives of their researched-based programs that are centered on distributed leadership strategies. District participants were able to ask questions about each model and received materials to use for further study and use when writing their proposal for the $25,000 mini-grant.

Four middle and high school teams (one representing each model) were invited to attend the retreat and present "their redesign story" (For contact information on these schools please contact Dr. Dennis Loftus at the Delaware Academy for School Leadership at dloftus@udel.edu). Delaware teams were provided the opportunity following the presentations to meet with the team that they were most interested in and ask specific questions regarding the work going on in the school related to distributed leadership.

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Gauger Cobbs School Leadership Team discuss ways to build more time into the schedule for teachers to work together during the Distributed Leadership Summer Retreat, June 2005

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Following the two-day kick-off event, superintendents who brought a team to the retreat, received a Request for a Proposal with specific guidelines and a scoring rubric for applying for a $25,000 mini-grant to develop a model of distributed leadership in a middle or high school. In January 2004, The Delaware Department of Education awarded four $25,000 mini-grants to the following school districts: Appoquinimink; Christina; Indian River; and New Castle County Vo-Tech districts. Copies of the Proposals for Districts can be viewed below along with other supporting documents.

The Distributed Leadership Workplan is the plan that was provided to the Wallace Foundation to outline the work that would take place in Delaware regarding distributed leadership. As with any work plan, changes are integrated as the work is being done. The New Proposal 2005-2006 provides a summary of the progress of the work as reported to the Wallace Foundation and projected plans as the project moves forward. Questions about the workplan or new proposal can be directed to the Project Director, Jacquelyn O. Wilson at jowilson@udel.edu