Effective School Leaders and Student Achievement

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Effective School Leaders and Student Achievement

• EPLC Conference Presentation
• March 13, 2006

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K-12 School Leadership Project

• Purpose recommendations to enhance leadership
  quality especially for
• Principals
• Superintendents
• Sponsored by EPLC, PASA, PAESSP
• Working since early 2005
• Report this spring

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Leadership Study Group

• 20-member study group
• School and district leaders
• Leadership educators
• Policymakers
• Associations
• PDE
• Foundations and advocates

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Process

• Research
• Two study group meetings
• Focus groups
• Superintendents
• Principals
• Todays session
• Draft report for release this spring

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Issues Being Considered

• Supply and demand
• Evolution of leadership positions
• Knowledge and skills needed for success
• Leadership preparation programs
• Continuing education and support

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Anticipated Outcomes

• Report and recommendations
• To state policymakers
• To school districts
• To leadership preparation institutions
• Information about the issue in multiple venues
• Advocacy for recommendations

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Supply and Demand

• Plenty of certificates
• Not enough interested candidates
• Less experienced than in the past
• Quality?

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Evolution of Leadership

• Less about control
• More about collaboration
• Less about management (as long as management
  issues are under control)
• More about student achievement

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Evolution of Leadership

• Superintendent
• Vision
• Policy
• Politics
• Legal issues
• Personnel

• Principal
• Instruction
• Curriculum
• Personnel
• Legal issues

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Superintendents Knowledge, Skills, and
Attributes

• Creating vision focused on students
• Strategic planning
• Standards-based systems
• Distributive leadership, empowerment
• School improvement strategies
• Learning theory
• Instructional strategies

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Superintendents Knowledge, Skills, and
Attributes

• Diversity
• Managing resources for results
• Collaborating
• Communicating
• Consensus building
• Fairness, integrity
• Informed decision-making

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Superintendents Knowledge, Skills, and
Attributes

• School board relations
• Media relations
• Community relations
• Advocacy for children
• Professional growth (self and others)

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Principals Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes

• Teacher development
• Letting teachers do their jobs
• Providing intellectual stimulation
• Providing models of effective practice
• Setting direction
• Developing shared goals
• Monitoring performance
• Promoting effective communications

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Principals Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes

• Organizational development
• Creating productive school culture
• Modifying structures that undermine work
  (including discipline issues)
• Building collaborative processes
• Design of curriculum, instruction, assessment
• Providing necessary resources

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Principals Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes

• Communications with teachers, students, parents
• Outreach and advocacy
• Flexibility
• Analysis and decision-making
• Knowledge of law, policy, etc.
• Fairness, integrity
• Emotional maturity, self-knowledge

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Leadership Preparation Programs

• Does the course content support these
  requirements of effectiveness?
• Are state program approval standards aligned with
  them?
• Are programs organized to support best practices
  (e.g., clinical practice)?
• Are there proven practices or models to emulate?

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Continuing Education and Support

• Effective professional development programs
• Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership
• Concept
• Content
• Organization and delivery
• Distributive leadership
• School district practices, including recruitment
  and compensation

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• Robert E. Feir
• Senior Fellow
• EPLC
• 717.230.8616
• rfeir_at_edstrat21.com