School Leadership and Districtwide Diagnostics
1.1 Shared Vision and Leadership
Shared Vision are agreed upon statements that provide a clear purpose and goal for meeting; describes the mutual benefit for all members, youth and families. Principals of high-achieving schools communicate to all stakeholders that learning is the school's most important mission (Cotton, 2003; Marzano et al., 2005).
Developing a shared vision and leading through this vision, schools can focus on making systemic change to support increasing student outcomes. Teams align resources and strategies to impact the vision of student growth.
1.2 Shared Leadership
Highly effective leadership also provides clarity of purpose and strategic planning, leads collective inquiry into best practice and current reality, is action orientated, focuses on results, and builds strong leaders who empower others (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Karnahek, 2006). One consistent finding in the research is the importance of well-structured opportunities for collaboration that allow school leaders to work in closer partnership with their teachers and students to establish sustained, continuous improvement systems rooted in ongoing data analysis (Chenoweth, 2009). Many strong leaders know how to have “courageous conversations” about race and culture as they lead to close the achievement gaps (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2014; Schumann, Zaki, & Dweck, in press; Singleton & Linton, 2005).
Shared Leadership is looking outside the leadership of people in traditional leadership roles and engages in the wealth of knowledge within an organization, doing this in a way to engage all staff and increase school climate.
Shared Vision Impact
➔ First and foremost, principals need to have a clear vision for their schools (Manasse, 1985; Zmuda, Kuklis, & Kline, 2004).
➔ Schools need principals who strive to ensure the quality of instruction in their schools (Harris, 2007; Marzano et al., 2005; Portin et al., 2003).
➔ Principals of high-achieving schools expect teachers and students to meet the schools' goals (Leithwood & Riehl, 2003).
➔ Principals of high-achieving schools are confident that their schools can meet their goals (Cotton, 2003).
➔ Principals who focus on school improvement have more effective schools (Shen & Hsieh, 1999).
➔ Principals of high-achieving schools communicate to all stakeholders that learning is the school's most important mission (Cotton, 2003; Marzano et al., 2005).
Highly Effective Leadership Benefits
➔ School leaders impact overall student achievement and growth (Hallinger & Heck, 1998; Leithwood, Louis, Anderson, & Wahlstrom, 2004; Waters, Marzano, & McNulty, 2003).
➔ One consistent finding in the research is the importance of well-structured opportunities for collaboration that allow school leaders to work in closer partnership with their teachers and students to establish sustained, continuous improvement systems rooted in ongoing data analysis (Chenoweth, 2009).
➔ Highly effective leadership also provides clarity of purpose and strategic planning, leads collective inquiry into best practice and current reality, is action orientated, focuses on results, and builds strong leaders who empower others (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Karnahek, 2006).
➔ Change is often met with resistance, and good leaders know how to manage the adversity, conflict, and anxiety that often accompanies change (Dweck, 2006; Kammrath & Dweck, 2006; Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, & Switzler, 2002).
➔ Many strong leaders know how to have “courageous conversations” about race and culture as they lead to close the achievement gaps (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2014; Schumann, Zaki, & Dweck, in press; Singleton & Linton, 2005).
➔ Wise principals understand that they cannot reach instructional goals alone (Hargreaves & Fink, 2003).
➔ Attaining school goals requires individual and shared efforts (Kyrtheotis & Pashiardis, 1998b).
➔ Effective instructional leaders believe that staff should collaborate and openly discuss instruction and program administration collectively among all stakeholders (Blase & Blase, 1999).
Shared Leadership Impact
➔ Principals who distribute leadership across their schools contribute to sustainable improvements within the school organization (Hargreaves & Fink, 2003).
➔ Highly successful principals develop and count on the expertise of teacher leaders to improve school effectiveness (Leithwood et al., 2004).
➔ Principals need to create opportunities for teachers to work together (Mendel et al., 2002).
➔ Principals need to tap the expertise of teacher leaders in their schools in order to enhance improvement efforts and results (Marks & Printy, 2003).
1.3 Systematic Renewal
Systemic Renewal is “about continuous, critical inquiry into current practices, identifying innovations that might improve education, removing organizational barriers to that improvement, and providing a system structure that supports change” (Duttweiler, 2004, p. 56).
Systemic Renewal takes a systems wide approach to continuous improvement, where interventions and strategies are researched, carefully planned, carried out, and continuously evaluated.
Systematic Renewal
➔ Effective school leaders skillfully gather data and use them to determine school effectiveness (Leithwood & Riehl, 2003).
➔ Continuous improvement requires an examination of the data (Fullan, 2005).
Applied Systemic Approach is Evident When Teams Have:
➔ Shared Vision
➔ Stable Leadership
➔ Multiple Stakeholder Involvement and Support of the Vision
➔ Good Communication
➔ Continuous Improvement Model
(National Dropout Prevention Center)
1.4 Data Analysis and Early Warning System
States, districts and schools have developed comprehensive, longitudinal, student level databases that, at a minimum, include data on student absences, grade retention, and low academic achievement, e.g. an Early Warning System. Data should be reviewed regularly, with a particular emphasis before the transitions to middle school and high school. Data systems support a realistic diagnosis of the number of students who dropout and help identify individual students at high risk of dropping out. A well-implemented early warning system can help educators and others identify students at-risk of dropping out and assign and monitor interventions to keep them on track for graduation and increasing local and state graduation rates.
Benefits of Analyzing Student Data
➔ Dropping out of school is a process, not an event, and early predictors of potential drop-outs exist as early as the middle grades. Predicting which current 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students are at a higher risk of dropping out of school later on can lead to critical interventions that prevent students from actually dropping out (Department of Public Instruction).
➔ A well implemented early warning system can help school leaders address challenges. Early warning systems are used by states and districts across the nation to identify off-track students in middle and high school and to design and assess interventions to keep them on track to graduate (US Department of Education, 2015).
1.5 Professional Development
The professional learning conducted to improve instructional strategies in teaching staff. Research tells us that it takes 40 hours of professional development to begin to change practices (National Dropout Prevention Center).
We know the quality of a teacher is the most important predictor of student success, (Darling-Hammond 1998). Given this information, schools that focus professional development in a personalized manner using evidence based practices are working to increase outcomes for students as well, therefore increasing overall graduation rates.
Professional Development Benefits
➔ Low achieving students increased their achievement by 53% when working with a highly effective teacher. (Haycock 1998)
➔ A high quality teacher is the most important predictor of student success (Darling-Hammond, 1998)
➔ Current studies show that professional development transfers to classroom practice and student achievement when it is supportive, job-embedded, instructionally-focused, collaborative, and ongoing (Hunzicker, 2010)