Online 
The job of a school leader has never been more complex. School leaders are responsible for setting the vision and goals and aligning strategy and resources to drive improvement in their schools, while navigating an increasingly challenging school environment.
Offered as a course within the Certificate in School Management and Leadership (CSML), an innovative collaboration between the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and Harvard Business School (HBS), Leading School Strategy and Innovation is designed to equip school leaders with the skills they need to identify existing challenges, incorporate and support innovation, and take a strategic problem-solving approach to planning and driving school improvement.
Course Objectives
Leading School Strategy and Innovation participants will:
- Define school goals, identify gaps between current and desired performance, and diagnose root causes of those gaps.
- Learn how to refine the school vision and goals to engage teachers and staff and guide the implementation of changes to improve performance.
- Explore the organizational building blocks of schools and understand how they work together as an inter-related system.
- Drive improvement by generating greater alignment between the school’s strategy, its organizational building blocks, and its resources.
- Distinguish between continuous improvement and innovation, identify when innovation is needed and how to create a safe space for innovation to take place.
- Develop, implement, and sustain a strategic school transformation process
Participant Experience
Hosted on the innovative HBS Online platform, Leading School Strategy and Innovation is an entirely virtual, highly interactive, and case-based course. Leading School Strategy and Innovation participants:
- Engage in case-based learning with HGSE and HBS faculty on topics that include education, business, and policy
- Watch virtual case studies featuring leaders from a representative cross-section of U.S. schools and businesses, and analyze the leaders’ experiences, insights, and best practices
- Engage in interactive activities to learn and network with a diverse group of participants who hold school leadership positions worldwide
- Reflect on their practice, knowledge, skills, and understandings—and identify opportunities to apply course learnings to their unique context
- Gain first-hand experience with the case-based and inductive learning model
For a look at the participant experience, view the demo video below.
The course also features engaging case studies of the following practitioners:
- Aisha Thomas, Principal, Zach Elementary School, Fort Collins, CO
- Brendan Kennealey, President, Salesianum High School, Wilmington, DE
- Melissa Pizano-Grunnet, Principal, Martin Van Buren Elementary School, Indio, CA
- Janet Moss, Principal, Coulwood Middle School, Charlotte, NC
- Tomer Zvulen, CEO, The Atlanta Opera, Atlanta, GA
