The job of an instructional leader, according to former Baltimore principal Deborah Wortham, is to be a gardener. School cultures left unattended, she says, sprout weeds that will eventually overwhelm the research-based programs, practices, and best efforts of teachers and administrators. The most aggressive and harmful educational weeds Wortham has had to pull in her career are the "weeds of isolation" and that pernicious weed with the long name: the I-did-everything-I-could-so-it-must-be-the-kid?s-fault weed. Working the good soil of collaboration, shared beliefs, conscious commitments, and effective protocols have made Wortham a success in opening failing schools to the sunshine of effective instruction.