248 CRITICAL THEORY AND LEADERSHIP PRACTICES
were seen as meaningful by the leaders at their own schools as well as by their instructors.
Furthermore, they were perceived as creating awareness for school improvement by engaging
their peers in improvement activities, and explaining administrative decision making
processes to their peers. The remaining group of students did not assume any responsibilities
for school improvement beyond their teaching duties in the classroom. The course
assignments for this latter group demonstrated a minimal amount of collaboration except with
other I LEAD students working at their schools.
Those I LEAD students assessed as demonstrating strong leadership were able to create
projects that principals perceived as contributing to school improvement. As one super-
intendent put it:
The project that the I LEAD students engaged in was well aligned with the district
and school goals on the School Improvement Plan. If Indian people were more
engaged in communicating with the Indian members of the community, trust could be
reestablished. The district did establish a Parent Center, but it is not being used very
heavily. Current involvement by parents is limited to serving on the (mandated)
Parent Advisory Committee and at high school activities. My hope is to get I LEAD
students involved in reaching out to the community, letting them experience
leadership, and providing a sense of Native ways to the rest of the school staff.Eleven of the 21 students in which inquiry was made were perceived by principals and
superintendents as demonstrating leadership and having potential as leaders; yet, the
remaining ten I LEAD students were assessed as having teaching deficiencies or dispositional
deficiencies that the principals and/or superintendents perceived as making it questionable as
to whether they can or will assume leadership positions. An elementary school principal
provided an example of this:
Deborah [pseudonym] has been a recognized leader in the school prior to her
involvement with I LEAD but this is Megan’s first year in the school, so trust has
not been established as of yet.A middle school principal with I LEAD students working at the school saw two students
as strong leaders, but saw the other two as having little to no potential as school leaders:
Only two of the four have stepped out into leadership positions. One has obtained an
administrative position as an assistant high school principal, and the other has
assumed strong teacher leader roles. The other two have not stepped up, and their
dispositions for leadership are not promising. Neither is assuming responsibility
beyond their classroom. ...They won’t be empowered into leadership positions
because they can’t lead.In one district where 12 of the I LEAD students worked, the superintendent changed the
meeting time of the weekly district leadership meeting to allow I LEAD students access to the
meetings. The students within this district were grateful for the opportunity and used the
information productively to inform other teachers better of the decision process. Students in
other districts heard about the access to leadership meetings and requested that the I LEAD
program intervene to facilitate attendance at such meetings within their district. At the
district’s leadership meeting, several principals remarked that I LEAD students have
influenced decision-making in the district. In two cases, this has led to principals stating their
concerns about the practice. One principal stated, “Since everyone seems to be invited to