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Developing Leaders Through SAM

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November 2010 Evaluation of SAM II November 2010 Evaluation of SAM II

November 2010 - This paper evaluates the Scaffolded Apprenticeship Model (SAM), a school improvement and leadership development program that supports a school inquiry team in closing student lear DOWNLOAD PDF »

The Scaffolded Apprenticeship Model (SAM) is a comprehensive school reform model that seamlessly integrates school improvement with leadership capacity building, teacher professional development and succession planning. SAM participants are partially released from daily responsibilities to learn and practice the skills required for effective leadership and school improvement within the context of their own schools. Through SAM, participants become eligible for formal leadership certification; schools develop a distributive leadership strategy that encourages more teachers to lead school improvement; and a renewed focus on data, analysis and intervention results in increased student achievement.

The program accomplishes this goal through three unique design features:

  • Participants are part of a school team, usually including school leaders, guidance counselors and teachers.
  • The work of the program is organized around meeting each school’s unique challenges in improving student achievement.
  • Participants develop leadership skills that engage colleagues in school improvement strategies.

 

The recent report on New York City SAM schools showed evidence of:

  • Significant growth in team leadership and collaboration skills, focused on improving student learning
  • Systemic, whole-school shifts toward using student data to identify needs and guide instructional decisions
  • Improved student outcomes in schools that made expected gains in leadership and data use.

 

SAM was developed through a collaboration among New Visions, the School of Public Affairs at Baruch College and the New York City Leadership Academy. Generous support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education has made this important work possible.