The purpose of this study was to conduct, as a participant observer and district-level regional administrator, three exploratory mini-case studies of elementary schools in the same district attempting to meet the same district improvement goal, imbedded in individual School Improvement Plans (SIP) during the same period of time in the school year.

In order to document how each leadership team identifies strategies to meet the goal, how strategies are implemented, how each leadership team interacts with me as their district administrator, and how performance toward meeting the goal is perceived by key actors in the school this research was conducted as an action-research case study. The inter-relationships between school goals and school leadership team behaviors in a large suburban school district and the influence of these teams on the practices of the individuals on each of the three different school teams were the primary focus of this study.

This study took place beginning in December 2007 and culminating in March 2008. The researcher kept a field journal of team meetings and staff development activities at each site. Interviews were conducted with principals, teachers, and parents at each site to gain multiple perspectives of school improvement and leadership. Findings of this case study may reveal a close connection between the practices of the regional administrator and school leadership teams and the outcome of school improvement initiatives. Recommendations are made for changes in practice and for future research studies.