ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a complex, real-life, accessible case study in expecting the best to provoke and stimulate conversation around practical problems and alternative solutions that confront educational leaders today. It presents a case where a school teacher is in disagreement with the interim school superintendent over the evaluation of the former's performance on various levels. The teacher also met a member of the school board on whose advice the board directed the interim superintendent to destroy the evaluation. Subsequently, an anonymous culture survey to all faculty was administered. Later, the school was able to hire the right people for the vacant positions that year; more of the veteran faculty retired or resigned. The school invested in specific professional development to instill learner-centered instructional practice, built capacity with all teachers for successful distribution of leadership. Most importantly, the school developed a culture of inquiry that required the teachers to be focused on research as it contributed to their craft.
