# Values-Driven Leadership - A Learning Pathway # Values-Driven Leadership: Facilitating Discussions on Ethical Decision-Making in K-12 Schools Values-Driven Leadership - A Learning Pathway ![scattered post its across a board](/sites/g/files/omnuum3616/files/styles/hwp_21_9__1920x825/public/2025-08/kier-in-sight-archives-p7iaoHjWDbI-unsplash.jpg?itok=ai68czgQ) ## Welcome to the "Values-Driven Leadership" Learning Pathway! --- ### What is the Purpose of This Learning Pathway? Educational leadership requires a clear understanding of individual, institutional, and community values as leaders navigate not only longstanding challenges like budgeting, hiring, assessment, and discipline, but also emerging and evolving challenges, from increased political polarization to artificial intelligence. Making values-based decisions can feel particularly challenging as educational leaders try to balance their responsibilities to the many stakeholders they serve. This learning pathway helps leaders surface the ethical challenges they face and provides structures and protocols for thinking through those challenges, both individually and in community. --- ### Key Questions You Will Explore - *What is values-driven leadership?* - *How can educational leaders identify the values that are important to them, their stakeholders, and their institutions?* - *How can educational leaders balance their many responsibilities to different stakeholders, including students, educators, parents, school board members, and the broader community?* - *How can leaders help other stakeholders understand the ways that they use values to make decisions?* - *How can educational leaders support educators and students in making their own values-oriented decisions?* --- ### What are Normative Case Studies? In this learning pathway, you'll find five normative case studies: **short, accessible cases designed to be read in 10-15 minutes and then discussed among diverse groups of stakeholders**. Carefully researched to present realistic ethical dilemmas, these fiction and non-fiction cases help groups explore challenging topics across lines of difference. The cases in this pathway delve into key questions that educators and educational leaders face when exploring values-based decision-making in K-12 schools. --- ### What Can I Expect from This Learning Pathway? This learning pathway includes not only the case studies, but also reflection questions to help you **consider how the ethical questions raised resonate in your own context**. You'll also find a set of additional resources with each case, exploring different perspectives and providing further context, along with expert commentaries from educational leaders in a variety of roles sharing their own experiences of grappling with these questions. Taken together, the cases and additional resources form a **powerful arc of learning** for anyone interested in thinking more about how leaders can confront challenging dilemmas in K-12 schools today. ### Getting Started Take a few moments to **watch our introductory video** and learn more about the structure of this pathway and the key questions you'll explore here. Instructors and facilitators, be sure to download our facilitation guide below for detailed protocols and teaching suggestions. ## Explore the Normative Case Studies in the Learning Pathway This pathway contains five cases and supporting materials that explore dilemmas related to educational leadership in K-12 settings. Click on each case below to learn more and to access the resources. ### First Rate: Dilemmas in Teacher Evaluation expand\_more An elementary-school principal new to her district must decide how to evaluate a beloved veteran teacher who struggles with the instructional core. *What makes for quality teaching—and how do we measure it?* [ Explore "First Rate" (redirect) arrow\_circle\_right ](https://www.justiceinschools.org/first-rate-pathway) ![collection of school books](/sites/g/files/omnuum3616/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/2025-08/FIRST%20RATE%20pierre-bamin-UgHM_w05lr4-unsplash.jpg?itok=15Wv7Jih) ### On the Merge: School Closure in a Rural District expand\_more A school board member in a rural district must decide whether to vote to merge the district’s two high schools, thus closing down a beloved school with close community ties. *What will best serve the students in town—keeping both schools open with deep cuts or merging them into one school?* [ Explore "On the Merge" (redirect) arrow\_circle\_right ](https://www.justiceinschools.org/on-the-merge-pathway) ![empty school yard](/sites/g/files/omnuum3616/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/2025-08/pexels-mary-taylor-5896843.jpg?itok=mArfLGmy) ### Bending Toward—Or Away From—Racial Justice?: Culturally-Responsive Curriculum Rollout at Arc Charter expand\_more An instructional coach in a charter network with five schools faces challenges as she attempts to roll out a new culturally-responsive curriculum. While the curriculum was developed and implemented successfully at the network's Downtown campus, it has drawn concerns from both parents and teachers at the Coastal location. Should the instructional coach heed these concerns and modify or delay the rollout of a curriculum she deeply believes in? *How can instructional leaders balance their own values with the values and concerns of the communities they serve?* [ Explore "Bending Toward—Or Away From—Racial Justice?" (redirect) arrow\_circle\_right ](https://www.justiceinschools.org/bending-towards-or-away-racial-justice-pathway) ![open history book with a map of the United States and a compass](/sites/g/files/omnuum3616/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/2025-08/BENDING%20TOWARD%E2%80%94OR%20AWAY%20FROM%E2%80%94RACIAL%20JUSTICE_%20chris-lawton-o0l-M8W_7wA-unsplash.jpg?itok=mc7dOkeC) ### Photo Bomb: Responding to Online Transgressions expand\_more A pair of seventh graders in Madrid take a topless photo of a female classmate using WhatsApp and forward it to the rest of the class. While the girl in the photo hopes never to hear about the situation again, members of the teaching and administrative staff wonder whether the incident should serve as a learning opportunity for the whole student body. *When the entire school community is affected by behavior that happens at home, how should teachers and school leaders respond? What responsibilities and limits does the school have to discipline students for out-of-school behavior?* [ Explore "Photo Bomb" (redirect) arrow\_circle\_right ](https://www.justiceinschools.org/photo-bomb-pathway) ![a teen and adults pointing to a laptop](/sites/g/files/omnuum3616/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/2025-08/Screenshot%202025-08-06%20110855.png?itok=VwAZOYGI) ### Remaking the Grade: A District's Quest for Equitable Homework Policy expand\_more In this case study, Arlington, VA, faced criticism from teachers and parents when the district announced a plan to make homework more equitable by eliminating deadlines and other requirements. *How can schools address inequalities in the resources available to students when it comes to homework completion? What can schools do to level the playing field between students who have ample family, social, and financial resources to support their educational success and students who have access to fewer such resources?* [ Explore "Remaking the Grade" (redirect) arrow\_circle\_right ](https://www.justiceinschools.org/remaking-grade-pathway) ![Student with headphones doing homework](/sites/g/files/omnuum3616/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/2025-08/REMAKING%20THE%20GRADE%20compare-fibre-e5sTz361Jzg-unsplash.jpg?itok=4mdV0zR6) ### Are You Hoping to Lead People Through This Learning Pathway? This facilitation guide provides comprehensive information and guidance for teaching and learning with this learning pathway: - guidance on customizing your pathway - best practices for normative case discussions - detailed protocols for each case - discussion questions for different audiences - extension activities for personalized learning [ Download the Facilitation Guide (PDF) arrow\_circle\_right ](/resource/values-driven-leadershipfacilitationguide10292025) ![a facilitator directing conversation between others.](/sites/g/files/omnuum3616/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2025-06/EdEthics%20graphics%20%281%29_1.png?itok=jFdsIGXq) ## Why Values-Driven Leadership Matters ### "To me, values-driven leadership is... figuring out a **Venn diagram of your own values and community values**. The place of overlap in the Venn diagram is where a leader can really lean in when making the most difficult decisions." *-Jennifer Cheatham, Harvard Graduate School of Education* ### "Values-driven leadership means... tying your decisions back to those core values that drive you as a person. Having **alignment between your personal and professional values** makes values-driven leadership a lot easier." *- Rydell Harrison, Partners for Educational Leadership* ### "I think it's really important when... you use these cases to have a **sense of your overriding priorities and values.** What's the hill you're willing to die on? When you're looking at these cases, you're testing whether or not that's actually true." *-Carolina Brito, DC Public Schools* arrow\_back arrow\_forward [ Your input helps us improve. Click here to give feedback. arrow\_circle\_right ](https://harvard.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2tN09vW9oV0AAUS) ## Want to Learn More? [### Full Normative Case Study Library ](https://www.justiceinschools.org/case-overview)Check out more normative case studies related to dilemmas in education. ![](/sites/g/files/omnuum3616/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-06/Legacies%20and%20Lessons%20image%20editing.png?itok=-vcHcUeo) [### Ethical Leadership in Polarized Times: A Brief-Cases Suite ](https://www.justiceinschools.org/values-driven-leadership-briefcase-suite)Explore this collection of normative “brief-cases.” Each one-page case is designed to help educational leaders discuss ethical challenges wrought by social and political polarization. ![a brief case with flying papers](/sites/g/files/omnuum3616/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-08/Values%20Driven%20Leadership%20Stock%20Photo%20Selection%20%28A2%20%28Landscape%29%29.png?itok=Xgk76X7Y) [### EdEthics | Values-Driven Leadership Video Playlist ](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQPfG5Q3OY1U3WNLQx2ub_T-sd2UqHSj8)Watch all the videos in our series of expert commentaries on values-driven leadership from school and district leaders, researchers, and leadership coaches. ![Jennifer Cheatham discussing values](/sites/g/files/omnuum3616/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-10/Jennifer%20Cheatham_Titlecard_Clip4.jpg?itok=bF25JBJs)