Showing papers on "Instructional leadership published in 2007"

Social Justice Educational Leaders and Resistance: Toward a Theory of Social Justice Leadership

Abstract: Purpose : A subgroup of principals—leaders for social justice—guide their schools to transform the culture, curriculum, pedagogical practices, atmosphere, and schoolwide priorities to benefit margi...

Distributing Leadership to Make Schools Smarter: Taking the Ego out of the System.

Abstract: In this study, we inquired about patterns of leadership distribution, as well as which leadership functions were performed by whom, the characteristics of nonadministrative leaders, and the factors promoting and inhibiting the distribution of leadership functions. We consider our account of distributed leadership in this district to be a probable example of “best practice” at the present time—not perfect, but likely more mature than average by a significant degree. The most noteworthy detail to emerge from our study was the critical part played by formal school and district leaders in helping to foster apparently productive forms of distributed leadership.

Teacher Teams and Distributed Leadership: A Study of Group Discourse and Collaboration

Abstract: Purpose:This article explores distributed leadership as it relates to two teacher teams in one public secondary school Both situational and social aspects of distributed leadership are foci of investigationMethods:The qualitative study used constant comparative analysis and discourse analysis to explore leadership as a distributed phenomenon Data from field notes and video recordings of two teacher teams during one semester were usedFindings:Three constructs emerged that informed our understanding of collaborative interaction within each professional learning team: purpose, autonomy, and patterns of discourse Purpose and autonomy, manifest as organizational conditions, largely shape patterns of discourse that characterize the interaction of the team members We argue that the nature of purpose and autonomy within a teacher team can influence the social distribution of leadershipConclusions:The nature of teams in shared governance structures—the fact that teams can organize to either find or solve pr

Students' Persistence in a Distributed Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership in Higher Education: A Mixed Methods Study.

Abstract: The purpose of this mixed methods sequential explanatory study was to identify factors contributing to students’ persistence in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Distributed Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership in Higher Education by obtaining quantitative results from surveying 278 current and former students and then following up with four purposefully selected typical respondents to explore those results in more depth. In the first, quantitative, phase, five external and internal to the program factors were found to be predictors to students’ persistence in the program: “program”, “online learning environment”, “student support services”, “faculty”, and “self-motivation”. In the qualitative follow up multiple case study analysis four major themes emerged: (1) quality of academic experiences; (2) online learning environment; (3) support and assistance; and (4) student self-motivation. The quantitative and qualitative findings from the two phases of the study are discussed with reference to prior research. Implications and recommendations for policy makers are provided.

Learning to Lead: What Gets Taught in Principal-Preparation Programs

Abstract: School leadership is the key to school improvement. In a new era of accountability, where school leaders are expected to demonstrate bottom-line results and use data to drive decisions, the skill and knowledge of principals matter more than ever. Meanwhile, public school choice, charter schooling, developments in teacher compensation and hiring, and site-based budgeting have created new opportunities for principal leadership. In this environment, school improvement rests to an unprecedented degree on school leaders.

Competencies for effective leadership in higher education

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this research is to set out to investigate the role of the Pro‐Vice‐Chancellor, Rector, or Principal of a university, and the competencies (attitudes, knowledge and behaviour) that are needed for effective leadership in higher education.Design/methodology/approach – Semi‐structured interviews were held with Pro‐Vice‐Chancellors at ten UK universities representative of the sector.Findings – Most respondents perceived that academic credibility and experience of university life were crucial for effective leadership in higher education, and continued with their research and teaching activities alongside their managerial roles. People skills, including the ability to communicate and negotiate with others, were also felt to be important. Most universities in the study had no systematic approach for either identifying or developing leadership skills.Research limitations/implications – Although this was a relatively small study, the research highlights the need for a more proactive approa...

The New Instructional Leadership: Creating Data-Driven Instructional Systems in School:

Abstract: The recent press for high-stakes accountability has challenged school leaders to use data to guide the practices of teaching and learning. This article considers how local school leaders build data...

Taking a Distributed Perspective to the School Principal's Workday.

Abstract: Focusing on the school principal's day-to-day work, we examine who leads curriculum and instruction- and administration-related activities when the school principal is not leading but participating in the activity. We also explore the prevalence of coperformance of management and leadership activities in the school principal's workday. Looking across a range of administration-related and curriculum and instruction-related activities school principals participate in, we show that who takes responsibility for leading and managing the schoolhouse varies considerably from activity to activity and from one school to the next.

Teacher Leadership in (In)action Three Case Studies of Contrasting Schools

Abstract: Teacher leadership is a concept that is gaining increasing interest from both practitioners and researchers. This article presents findings from three case studies in the UK that can be characterized as exhibiting developed, emergent and restricted teacher leadership. Differences and similarities between the schools were examined, leading us to conclude that purposive action by the head, school culture and school structures were the key distinguishing factors. Teacher leadership requires active steps to be taken to constitute leadership teams and provide teachers with leadership roles. A culture of trust and collaboration is essential, as is a shared vision of where the school needs to go, clear line management structures and strong leadership development programmes. In the developed and emergent teacher leadership schools, barriers to teacher leadership were mainly external to the school. In the school we described as exhibiting restricted teacher leadership, internal factors were also key barriers.

Revisiting the Importance of the Direct Effects of School Leadership on Student Achievement: The Implications for School Improvement Policy

Abstract: Much is left to be known regarding the impact of school principals on student achievement. This is because much of the research on school leadership focuses not on actual student outcomes but rather on other peripheral results of principal practices. In the research that has been done in this area, significant relationships have been identified between selected school leadership practices and student learning, indicating that evidence existed for certain principal behaviors to produce a direct relationship with student achievement. Further, although these relationships typically account for a small proportion of the total student achievement variability, they are of sufficient magnitude to be of interest and additional investigation. Actions taken to better understand and improve the impact of principals on the achievement of students in their schools have the potential for widespread benefit, as individual improvements in principal practice can impact thousands of students. It is in this light that poten...

Leadership for learning: a research-based model and taxonomy of behaviors1

Abstract: In this article, the authors examine the components of leadership for learning employing research on highly productive schools and school districts and high-performing principals and superintendents, using a three-dimensional model of productivity. The knowledge base of leadership for learning is captured under eight major dimensions: vision for learning, instructional program, curricular program, assessment program, communities of learning, resource acquisition and use, organizational culture, and advocacy.

The Many Faces of Leadership.

Abstract: Charlotte Danielson Teachers can find a wealth of opportunities to extend their influence beyond their own classrooms to their teaching teams, schools, and districts. In every good school, there are teachers whose vision extends beyond their own classrooms—even beyond their own teams or departments. Such teachers recognize that students' school experiences depend not only on interaction with individual teachers, but also on the complex systems in place throughout the school and district. This awareness prompts these teachers to want to influence change. They experience professional restlessness—what some have called the “leadership itch.” Sometimes on their own initiative and sometimes within a more formal structure, these professionals find a variety of ways to exercise teacher leadership.

Facilitating Elementary Principals' Support for Instructional Teacher Leadership.

Abstract: Purpose: This exploratory study examines conditions that lead elementary principals to support the work of school-based instructional teacher leaders. The study asks, How do principals' knowledge o...

Ten Roles for Teacher Leaders

Abstract: An instructional specialist helps colleagues implement effective teaching strategies. This help might include ideas for differentiating instruction or planning lessons in partnership with fellow teachers. Instructional specialists might study research-based classroom strategies (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001); explore which instructional methodologies are appropriate for the school; and share findings with colleagues.

School Leaders and Their Sensemaking About Race and Demographic Change

Abstract: Background: School leaders must make sense of the messages they receive from multiple, overlapping contexts of their school environments. Equally important, they must shape meaning of school issues and events with and for other school members.Purpose:The purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which school leaders defined and made sense of issues of race and demographic change in their schools.Data Collection: Interviews, documents, and archival data from a larger study provided information on the programs, policies, and practices that schools modified in response to their growing African American population. For the current study, the author specifically examined the words and actions of school leaders to determine how they defined and made sense of the demographic changes taking place. The author also used other information to establish the contexts around these leaders that might help explain their sensemaking.Findings: Generally, school leaders'sensemaking seemed related to the local context ...

The impact of school leadership on school level factors: validation of a causal model

Abstract: This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the antecedents and effects of educational leadership, and of the influence of the principal's leadership on intervening and outcome variables. A path analysis was conducted to test and validate a causal model. The results show no direct or indirect effects of educational leadership on student commitment; instead a reciprocal relationship was found between student commitment and strategic leadership. A range of antecedent variables appears to have more effects on the school culture than educational leadership has. Finally, the principal's vision has a substantial impact on his or her educational leadership behaviours. The findings suggest the importance of cognitive processes in order to understand the complex chain of variables through which principals have an impact on school effectiveness and school improvement. The results also underline the importance of conceptualizing leadership from a contingency approach.

Assessing Learning-Centered Leadership: Connections to Research, Professional Standards, and Current Practices.

Abstract: Effective school leadership is key to students' academic success. But the development of effective school leadership has been seriously hampered by the lack of technically sound tools to assess and monitor leaders' performance. This article presents the research base and conceptual framework for a leadership assessment instrument under development.

Factors That Influence Elementary Teachers Use of Computers

Abstract: The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the ways elementary teachers use computer technology for instructional purposes and the factors that influence their use of computers. The population consisted of recent graduates from the elementary teacher preparation program at a mid-Atlantic university. Data were gathered using a survey instrument. The instrument addressed the four factors that support teachers’ use of computers: access and availability, preparation and training, leadership, and time. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed in this study. The response rate was 89 percent. The findings indicated that 84 percent of the teachers felt either well or very well prepared to integrate technology into curriculum, and that they were able to overcome the typical barriers to computer use in elementary classrooms. The teachers overwhelmingly indicated that computers have considerable potential for allowing students to discover or construct ideas for themselves and supported constructivist pedagogies when referring to computer use in elementary classrooms. Teacher preparation, teacher philosophy and grade level were identified as influential factors in the use of computers by the elementary teachers and the elementary students.

Do school context, student composition and school leadership affect school practice and outcomes in secondary education?

Abstract: This study examined effects of school context, student composition and school leadership on school practice and outcomes in secondary education in Flanders. The study reveals that relations between school characteristics do exist and that it is possible to explain an important part of the differences in mean effort and mathematics achievement of schools by means of these school characteristics. Furthermore, it was found that school size positively affects school outcomes and that its effect is mediated by school practice characteristics like the amount of cooperation between teachers, which affects school climate and outcomes. School leadership did not affect the school practice much, perhaps because of a lack of a strong educational leadership in most of the Flemish secondary schools. However, the student composition of schools seemed to be very important for school practice, as well as for school outcomes. Nevertheless, the study revealed that schools can affect the outcomes of their students independently of their student composition and context by means of school practice.

Distributed Leadership for Social Justice: Exploring how Influence and Equity are Stretched over an Urban High School:

Abstract: Although leadership for social justice and distributed leadership have separately garnered a great deal of interest among educational administration scholars, no studies have explored the possible ...

The Leadership of the Improvement of Teaching and Learning: Lessons from Initiatives with Positive Outcomes for Students.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine how leaders foster school renewal by facilitating and participating in the types of teacher professional learning and development that improve student academic and nonacademic outcomes The methodology involved a backward mapping strategy that takes as its starting point, not theories of leadership, but professional development initiatives that have made a demonstrable impact on the students of the teachers involved Eighteen studies with evidence of such impact were analysed for descriptions of the leadership practices involved in each initiative Through an iterative process of review and critique, these descriptions were categorised into the leadership dimensions associated with teacher professional learning that resulted in improved student outcomes The analysis revealed five leadership dimensions that were critical in fostering teacher and student learning: providing educational direction; ensuring strategic alignment; creating a community that learns how to improve student success; engaging in constructive problem talk; selecting and developing smart tools The analysis showed that leadership of the improvement of learning and teaching is highly distributed in terms of both who leads and how it is enacted Such leadership is embedded in school routines that are aligned to improvement goals, and involves the use of smart tools that are designed to assist teachers’ learning of more effective pedagogical practices

Organizational Strategies for Promoting Instructional Change: Implementation Dynamics in Schools Working With Comprehensive School Reform Providers

Abstract: This article develops a conceptual framework for studying how three comprehensive school reform (CSR) programs organized schools for instructional change and how the distinctive strategies they pursued affected implementation outcomes. The conceptual model views the Accelerated Schools Project as using a system of cultural control to produce instructional change, the America's Choice program as using a model of professional control, and the Success for All program as using a model of procedural control. Predictable differences in patterns of organizing for instructional improvement emerged across schools working with these three programs, and these patterns were found to be systematically related to patterns of program implementation. In particular, the two CSR programs that were organized to produce instructional standardization produced higher levels of instructional change in the schools where they worked. The results of the study suggest organizational strategies program developers can use to obtain i...

Principals' Influence on Academic Achievement: The Student Perspective

Abstract: Research identifying relationships between principals' instructional leadership behavior and academic achievement is problematic because it fails to consider the perspectives of the “consumer” (i.e...

Making Connections to Teaching Practice: The Role of Boundary Practices in Instructional Leadership

Abstract: Administrators, particularly those who engage in instructional leadership, play a key role in school improvement. Past research describes the types of activities instructional leaders engage in but has paid little attention to how they do it. The authors use the case of one school to unpack instructional leadership as a practice, paying close attention to the tools that constitute that practice, the contextual factors that help to define it, and how it affects teaching. The authors find that two kinds of tools—boundary practices and boundary spanners—play a significant role in constituting instructional leadership practice. Contextual factors, including student and staff composition and leaders' values and beliefs, define instructional leadership practice in important ways. Finally, policy implications are discussed.

Trust and the Development of Distributed Leadership.

Abstract: This article examines the relationship between trust and the development of distributed leadership. It presents a theoretical argument with supporting evidence from longitudinal fieldwork examining...