LEAD Fairfax -- Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax, Va.

Leadership Issues and Challenges

Foremost among our challenges are the system’s demographic issues. With a student population exceeding 166,000 students, the district has been growing at a rate of 4,000 to 6,000 students annually – fueled by an influx of minorities and economically disadvantaged students.

As we experience growth as a school system, we continue to face the loss of our most senior leadership to retirement and personal-growth opportunities. Our forecast in the year 2000 of a loss of 70 percent of our sitting principals within the following five years has proven to be accurate. This transition of leadership continues as we approach the final year of our grant.

These changes have begun to significantly shape our work in several ways. This has increased LEAD’s awareness of the need to develop a common language and a common set of expectations for leadership within the district. These events also solidified our belief that the key to reforming and developing new leadership is now embedded in our ability to influence and sustain cultural change targeted to leadership best practices.

More Information

Obstacles | Activities | Strategies for Student Success

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