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Effective School Leadership for Reading First
Sharon WalpoleUniversity of Delaware
Successful School Reform is …
Specific The program is sufficiently detailed.
Powerful The program produces results.
Authoritative Leadership is involved and informed.
Consistent The program is uniformly implemented.
Stable The program is not changed without reason.
Desimone, L. (2002). How can comprehensive school reform models be successfully implemented? Review of Educational Research, 72,433–479.
Joseph Murphy, in Leadership for Literacy: Research-Based Practice, PreK-3 (2003, Corwin Press), summarizes key qualities possessed by principals of schools where achievement is strong.
The Effective RF Principal
Setting Goals
The More-Effective Principal The Less-Effective Principal
Has a more child-centered vision Has a more adult-
centered vision
Sets manageable, realistic goals Favors broad goals
Sees student performance as central Likes to see things run
smoothly
Expresses goals in measurable terms Expresses goals vaguely
Uses goals for planning Refers rarely to goals
Asks parents & staff to help set goals Limits goal setting input
Communicating Goals
The More-Effective Principal The Less-Effective Principal
Periodically reviews & discusses Infrequently discusses
goals
Actively clarifies goals Rarely clarifies goals
Has teachers who know goals Has teachers unfamiliar with
goals
Has teachers who see themselves Has teachers who see
themselvesas good instructors as good managers & colleagues
Promoting Quality Instruction
The More-Effective Principal The Less-Effective Principal
Insists on certain teaching strategies Has less focus on methods
Favors interactive teaching Is content with less
interaction
Assigns teachers on the basis of Assigns teachers
bureaucraticallyimproving achievement
Supervising Instruction
The More-Effective Principal The Less-Effective Principal
Relies little on formal observations Values formal
observations
Values informal visits and meetings Rarely makes informal
visits
Often reads about instruction Seldom reads about instruction
Often provides specific feedback Seldom provides specific
feedback
Counsels and assists poor teachers Less likely to confront poor teachers
Allocating Instructional Time
The More-Effective Principal The Less-Effective Principal
Carefully sets time allocations Less likely to set time allocations
Coordinates time allocations Less likely to have uniform
scheduleacross teachers
Schedules more instructional and Less likely to favor
instructional overfewer non-instructional activities non-instructional activities
Insists on time for basics Less likely to ensure their
coverage
Protects uninterrupted block Less likely to preserve block
Coordinating the Curriculum
The More-Effective Principal The Less-Effective Principal
Is highly involved in curriculum Is less involved in curriculumalignment alignment
Is concerned with the continuity Tends not to focus on
continuityof curriculum from grade to grade of curriculum from grade to grade
Monitoring Student Progress
The More-Effective Principal The Less-Effective Principal
Supports testing programs Views testing as a
necessary evil
Provides test results to teachers Is less timely in reporting
results In a timely manner to teachers
Discusses results with groups and Is less likely to discuss
resultsindividual teachers
Encourages teachers to use test Does not emphasize the
connectionresults to plan instruction between testing and teaching
Setting Expectations
The More-Effective Principal The Less-Effective Principal
Holds adults accountable for student Does not hold others accountablelearning outcomes
Requires mastery of grade-level Is more likely to socially
promoteskills for promotion to next grade students
Being Visible
The More-Effective Principal The Less-Effective Principal
Is often out of the office Spends large amounts of
time inthe office
Makes an effort to move about Is less mobile the campus and in and out ofclassrooms
Providing Incentives
The More-Effective Principal The Less-Effective Principal
Recognizes teachers with rewards Seldom acknowledges
teacherssuch as distributing leadership showing personal interest making public acknowledgements giving private praise
Ensures that student rewards are Is less concerned about
student frequent and they they go to a large rewardspercentage of students
Focuses rewards on achievement Is less likely to reward achievement
Promoting PD
The More-Effective Principal The Less-Effective Principal
Is more likely to be directly involved Often avoids PD sessionsin PD activities
Follows up by ensuring that PD Is unlikely to follow up PDmethods are implemented
Cobbles temporary coalitions Is not adept at working withof teachers to help implement teacher groups to implement
Encourages professional dialogue Is indifferent to dialogue
Helps teachers attend conferences Resists conference
attendance
Creating a Safe & OrderlyLearning Environment
The More-Effective Principal The Less-Effective Principal
Works with teachers to develop Is less focused on management
skillsclassroom management skills
Establishes a clear and consistent Fails to set up a clear
policydisciplinary policy
Enforces discipline fairly and May be inconsistent in enforcingconsistently discipline
Involves teachers and students Sets rules independentlyIn setting rules
Creating a Safe & OrderlyLearning Environment
The More-Effective Principal The Less-Effective Principal
Confronts problems quickly and Is tentative and indecisiveforcefully
Supports teachers with discipline Is unsympathetic to
teachers withproblems discipline problems
Promoting Collaboration
The More-Effective Principal The Less-Effective Principal
Encourages teamwork and Allows teachers to functioncollaborative efforts independently
Gives faculty a formal role in Excludes teachers from decisiondecision making making
Informally seeks teachers’ ideas Is indifferent to the
ideas andand opinions opinions of teachers
Securing Outside Resources
The More-Effective Principal The Less-Effective Principal
Is skilled at influencing district Reacts to district decisionsdecision making about resources
Actively seeks resources Is passive about finding
resources
Assertively recruits the best Follows standard hiringteachers (even from other schools) procedures
Allocates money based on goals Makes allocations based
on otherfactors
Linking Home and School
The More-Effective Principal The Less-Effective Principal
Communicates with parents on a Infrequently
communicates withregular basis parents
Involves parents in school activities Is more likely to ignore parent participation
Establishes programs that promote Fails to facilitate parent-
teacherparent-teacher interaction interaction
Promotes the school to Does not participate in
communitycommunity groups groups
Provides ways parents can learn Doesn’tabout school and help their children
Which qualities of the principalrelate to reading achievement?
Principal’s race Principal’s sex Number of years as a principal Number of years as a classroom teacher Knowledge about reading
– Kean et al. (1979), What Works in Reading? (Federal Reserve Bank Study)
What can a Literacy Coach do to compensate for a principal’s shortcomings?
You don’t have to change everything to change anything.