Leader Pathway
Leader Pathway
The Leader Learning Pathway develops the instructional leadership skills needed to create the conditions for high-quality teaching and learning across a school or department. Leaders strengthen their ability to establish clear expectations, monitor implementation, analyze multiple sources of evidence, provide actionable feedback, lead professional learning, and differentiate support for educators. The pathway emphasizes building coherent systems that connect professional learning, teacher practice, and student outcomes.
1. Establishing a Vision for High-Quality Instruction
Purpose: Develop leadership clarity around what effective teaching and learning should look like across classrooms.
Session Description: Leaders establish shared instructional expectations grounded in standards, HQIM, district priorities, and instructional rubrics.
Skills Developed: Instructional vision, expectation setting, alignment, communication.
2. Leading for Strong HQIM Implementation
Purpose: Build leaders' capacity to support curriculum implementation beyond compliance.
Session Description: Leaders examine the systems, structures, planning expectations, and professional learning teachers need to use HQIM effectively.
Skills Developed: Curriculum leadership, implementation monitoring, resource alignment, instructional support.
3. Knowing What to Look For in Classrooms
Purpose: Increase leader accuracy when observing instruction.
Session Description: Participants examine instructional look-fors and practice collecting objective evidence connected to teacher and student actions.
Skills Developed: Observation, evidence collection, instructional analysis, calibration.
4. Feedback That Improves Teacher Practice
Purpose: Strengthen leaders' ability to translate observation evidence into meaningful teacher growth.
Session Description: Leaders practice delivering specific, actionable, evidence-based feedback focused on high-leverage instructional improvements.
Skills Developed: Feedback, questioning, coaching conversations, action planning.
5. Diagnosing Instructional Needs
Purpose: Help leaders distinguish symptoms from the underlying causes of performance challenges.
Session Description: Participants examine multiple sources of evidence and apply root-cause analysis processes before selecting interventions or support.
Skills Developed: Root-cause analysis, problem identification, evidence triangulation, strategic thinking.
6. Leading Effective Professional Learning
Purpose: Develop school leaders' capacity to make professional learning relevant, coherent, and connected to classroom practice.
Session Description: Leaders learn to design professional learning around educator needs, new learning, implementation, evidence, and follow-up.
Skills Developed: Professional learning design, adult learning, facilitation, follow-through.
7. Leading High-Impact PLCs
Purpose: Shift PLCs from meetings about instruction to collaborative improvement of instruction.
Session Description: Leaders establish structures for teams to study curriculum, student work, assessment evidence, problems of practice, and instructional responses.
Skills Developed: PLC leadership, collaboration, data analysis, instructional planning.
8. Using Data for Strategic Instructional Leadership
Purpose: Strengthen leaders' ability to turn data into focused actions.
Session Description: Participants triangulate student achievement, teacher practice, implementation, and perceptual data to determine priorities.
Skills Developed: Data analysis, trend identification, progress monitoring, strategic planning.
9. Differentiating Teacher Support
Purpose: Help leaders provide the right support based on educator readiness and need.
Session Description: Leaders determine when teachers need professional learning, modeling, co-planning, observation, rehearsal, coaching, or increased monitoring.
Skills Developed: Differentiated support, coaching selection, teacher development, resource allocation.
10. Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement
Purpose: Create school systems in which learning, evidence, feedback, and adjustment become routine.
Session Description: Leaders develop structures for monitoring implementation, celebrating progress, addressing barriers, and continuously refining instructional practice.
Skills Developed: Change leadership, progress monitoring, culture building, continuous improvement.