Ministry of Education Region 2 Workshop for New

Ministry of Education Region 2 Workshop for New Principals

Theme • Developing a Culture of Effective Leadership in Schools

Topic • The Principal as an Instructional Leader

Presented by Earl Christian Territorial Education Officer December 16, 2008

Objectives At the end of presentation, participants will be able to: 1. Define Instructional Leadership in a more comprehensive manner. 2. Identify features of a good Instructional Leader. 3. Develop principal’s log with entrenched Instructional Time

What are your Views? • What is Instructional Leadership? • Who is an Instructional Leader? • How much time do you spend on Instructional Leadership?

Definition • Instructional leadership encompasses "those actions that a principal takes, or delegates to others, to promote growth in student learning" (Debevoise, 1984, pp. 14 -20)

Definition Mendez (cited in Flath, 1989) describes it yet another way: • There are three major forces that serve to shape and describe a school - the public, the staff and the students - and that these forces interact through the curriculum. The role of the instructional leader is to manipulate these forces in order to maximize the quality of instruction. (p. 20)

Profile of the Instructional Leader According to Richardson et al. (1989), he or she : • Must lead toward educational achievement, • Must be a person who makes instructional quality the top priority of the school, and • Must be able to bring that vision to realization.

Profile of the Instructional Leader (contd. ) • According to K. A. Acheson and S. C. Smith, an instructional leader is an administrator who emphasizes the process of instruction and facilitates the interaction of teacher, student and curriculum. (p. 20) • Leaders must model learning.

Profile of the Instructional Leader (contd. ) • Principals, as leaders of leaders - those who encourage and develop instructional leadership in teachers. • This "mode of instructional leadership provides for learning and working with others - teachers, students and parents to improve instructional quality" (p. 16). This becomes the basis for shared instructional leadership. Cooper (1989),

Profile of the Instructional Leader (contd. ) Jamentz notes that principals must be able to : • Recognize whether lessons are aligned with standards, • Develop classroom assessments consistent with standards, and • Evaluate student work for evidence that standards have been achieved.

Profile of the Instructional Leader (contd. ) • • • Possessing the key qualities of Resource provider Instructional resource Communicator, and Visible presence Strong instructional leaders spend a substantially greater percentage of time on educational program improvement.

Profile of the Instructional Leader (contd. ) • Their knowledge should be deep enough to let them coach teachers using explanations, practical examples, and demonstration lessons. Just as important, leaders must demonstrate the same learning traits that they expect in teachers: openness to new ideas, willingness to be driven by results, and persistence in the face of difficulty.

Instructional Leadership Tasks • Defining the purpose of schooling; • Setting school-wide goals; • Providing the resources needed for learning to occur; • Supervising and evaluating teachers; • Coordinating staff development programmes; • and creating collegial relationships with and among teachers. (Wildy & Dimmock, 1993, p. 44)

Instructional Leadership Tasks (contd. ) • • Managing the curriculum Monitoring lesson plans, and Evaluating teachers. Today, it includes much deeper involvement in the "core technology" of teaching and learning, • Carries more sophisticated views of professional development, and • Emphasizes the use of data to make decisions (Deborah King 2002).

BECOMING EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS Three major categories and subcategories of Instructional Leadership: Glickman (1990). 1. Knowledge Base Effective schools literature · Research on effective speaking Awareness of your own educational philosophy and beliefs · Administrative development · Change theory · Knowledge of curriculum theory/core curriculum

BECOMING EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS (contd. ) • 2. Tasks - Supervision/evaluation of instruction - Staff development - Curriculum development - Group development - Action research - Positive school climate - School and community

BECOMING EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS (contd. ) • 3. Skills Interpersonal Communication People Decision-making Application Problem solving/conflict management Technical Goal setting Assessing and planning Observing Research and evaluation

Research Findings • Effective schools research has verified that schools are rarely effective unless the principal is a proficient instructional leader. • Thomas Bird and Judith Warren Little showed that effective instructional leadership means cultivating and sustaining norms of civility, collegiality, and continuous improvement.

Research Findings • A Seattle study by Richard L. Andrews disclosed a statistical correlation between student gains in reading and mathematics and teachers' perceptions of their principal's effectiveness-especially in schools with many low-income students. • Phillip Hallinger and Joseph Murphy found that a community's socioeconomic status heavily affected the behavior of effective instructional leaders and their choice of management style.

Research Findings • In San Francisco, David C. Dwyer found that proficient instructional leaders act on personal beliefs and values, as well as perceptions of their schools' and communities' needs. • In Texas, William Rutherford and his associates studied the principal's impact on teachers' instructional improvement efforts. The most successful principals clearly communicated expectations, provided technical assistance, and monitored the results.

Group Activity • Develop a Principal’s Log for a week to reflect a reasonable time for Instructional Leadership each day.

An Effective Principal results in an Effective School • What type of Principal are you? • All the best in the pursuit of an effective school

The End • Every child can learn; every child must learn