Linda Lambert wrote this short book to discuss leadership in schools. She gives three prime examples - an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school. In each she discusses how the schools changed (or not), and what cemented the change (or not).

None of the "leadership changes" took less than three years. This is an amazing amount of time, truly amazing. It makes me think that public schools simply do not have a clear vision or image and do not have to change much.

Her recommendations are clear but border on simplistic, e.g., "Get to know one another." These ideas are meant to build "leadership capacity" in the building.

Lambert is a professor of Education at Cal State, Hayward, and this book is published by ASCD, the pre-eminent professional group in America for educational supervisors and leaders. I suppose Dr. Lambert is correct about building leadership capacity in schools, but the speed at which this is done is somewhere between galacial and geological time-spans. What a loss for the youngsters in schools.

Linda Lambert's book is clearly written by someone with a great deal of experience in the schools as a teacher and a leader. All too often those who do not work in the schools are eager to offer solutions that are impossible to implement with limited resources. It makes great reading, but that is as far as it goes. The truth is that the attitudes and skills of teachers, administrators and Board members are critical. If the Board of Education can speak with one voice, instead of encouraging individual Board members to wander about making statement that do not reflect the sentiment of the entire Board, and offer clear guidance and support for the staff, leadership can be nutured. In Building Leadership Capacity in Schools Linda Lamberts demonstrates her thorough understanding of these dynamics. It's an important primer for building leadership in the public schools. I hope it is widely available to educators.