Facilitators and Members

SLN Facilitators Are High-Achieving School Leaders

We recruit and select the highest caliber of school leaders to facilitate our inquiry-based network model. Practicing school principals, who have led their schools to blue ribbon designations, model school status and significant student achievement gains, are the educational standard bearers we choose to lead our networks. A snapshot (from SY 2008-09) of some of our facilitators’ accomplishments:

Facilitator Training and Evaluation Support Program Quality and Consistency

SLN Facilitators meet together for training two times per year. In these training sessions, facilitators model the collaborative inquiry-based problem solving experience they conduct in their own networks, addressing the successes and challenges as a group. Facilitation skills, adult learning theory, change leadership and the achievement gap are critically discussed and developed. Webinars, phone consultations, site visits and cluster facilitator meetings occur throughout the school year.

SLN maintains and accelerates facilitators’ expertise with their networks through a semi-annual observation process that includes on-site network meeting audits. Monthly, data is captured on member quality assessment and feedback as well as member attendance and retention metrics, analyzed and utilized to measure facilitator performance.

Principals in SLN Networks Are Dedicated and Motivated

Most network members have been principals for two-three years and are more than five years away from retirement. They have demonstrated performance, the potential for leadership development, and have a clear understanding of their role and impact on schools, teachers and students.

Individual members are sought out and/or recommended by other members, by school district or regional leadership and education excellence centers, and are interviewed and selected by SLN facilitators for acceptance into the program.