Essay On Scholarly Articles On Leadership

As with the importance of selecting a highly qualified principal to help raise test scores and closing achievement gaps, the selection and support of staff is also critical. Gregory F. Branch, Eric A. Hanushek, and Steven G. Rivkin’s 2013 study “School Leaders Matter” examined the effectiveness of many principles’ leadership and the effect they had on student achievement ratings. “A primary channel through which principals can be expected to improve the quality of education is by raising the quality of teachers, either by improving the instruction provided by existing teachers or through teacher transitions that improve the caliber of the school’s workforce” (Branch, pg.4). A principal must be able to continually seek out professional development, to research best practices and new educational theories to support their staff and students. If principals are to close the achievement gap, they must be willing to inform and instruct their staff on new teaching strategies. Mr. Canada, from his TED talk, “Our failing schools. Enough is enough!”, states: “You go into a place that has failed kids for fifty years and say: ‘so what’s the plan?’ And they say: ‘Well, we are going to do what we did last year, this year’. What kind of business model is that?” (TED, 2013). The principal willing to venture into new, uncharted waters may succeed or fail, but at least they

Achieving a school district’s mission and vision requires the commitment of its stakeholders. In order to involve them in the process, it is necessary for educational leaders to “motivate staff, parents, students, board and community members” (Educational Leadership Constituencies Council, 2002, p. 4). The transformational leadership theory emphasizes the importance of educational leaders acting as role-models in order to motivate and inspire the school community. This approach has the potential to involve all stakeholders, leading to increased student success (Bush, 2007). The Assistant Director of Special Education in Northwest ISD directly supervised the school district’s assessment staff. Her education, experience, and passion set an example for her subordinates, stimulating them to achieve more, leading to her promotion to Executive Director of Student Services.

In this chapter, Fullan begins by maintaining that principals who are effective lead learners are necessarily also good managers, because they understand that having clear routines is essential for school improvement.” (57) He quotes from Viviane Robinson’s Student-Centered Leadership to both underscore the previous point and emphasize that successful principals take an active learning stance: “The principal who makes the biggest impact on learning is the one who attends to other matters as well, but, most important, ‘participates as a learner’ with teachers in helping move the school forward.” (58) Fullan also borrows from Helen Timperley’s work in responding to the question, Who is in a principal’s class? The principal’s class consists of “team leaders who in turn can leverage the learning of other teachers in their group”

According to former Indiana state superintendent of schools Dr. Suellen Reed, “We know from our research that there’s no turnaround school without a turnaround principal” (as cited in Gammil, 2007, para. 2), further supporting the fact that “school leaders have an essential role in cultivating a positive school culture in public schools” (Peterson and Deal, 2002, p.30). However, it is imperative to improve our understanding as to how principal leadership impacts the school culture in high poverty schools to ensure that all children receive a quality education, regardless of zip code, in an environment conducive to learning. The six measured factors are as follows:

Currently, I am not an employee of any learning organization, school district or educational system. However, I am involved and Chair the School Advisory Council (SAC) of Greenland Pines Elementary. This opportunity granted me a unique opportunity to observe the management of two different principals with their individual leadership styles. Furthermore, I contrasted my business practices from my own company and military service to coincide with this case study. The purpose of this paper is a comprehensive written outlining the processes presented by the educational leadership at Greenland Pines Elementary. With this in mind, we need to understand the concept of educational leadership.

Initially and still relatively concrete in thought, I sincerely felt that the leadership within the school hierarchy started with the principal and branched down all the way to the core teachers, specialists, and support staff, establishing that whatever the aims and jurisdictions set forth by the principal overtly shaped the nature of a school’s approach to reform and learning expectations. Additionally, teachers were expected to operate in their specific roles to advance those expectations set forth in large school staff meetings that planned

When asked the question of how long she worked as a principal, participant began to describe her leadership abilities as being “continuously promoting growth and development through teaching and learning.” Participant went on to mention that it is much more than

The study sample were 141 middle level principals from Western Pennsylvania who worked with grades fourth through ninth, specifically targeting 8th graders. The principals represented urban, suburban and rural school districts in Western Pennsylvania.

In the book, The Moral Imperative of School Leadership, the author, Michael Fullan, discusses how a school ran with moral imperative will benefit everyone involved. Fullan summarizes how principals who share the leadership role and work collectively with others find success. He lays out the ways to change the context of your campus, defines some barriers of school leadership, and how to make a difference at the individual level and at the school level. He also discusses how to make a difference beyond your campus, expanding to regionally and society. Lastly he demonstrates how a new direction and new context require the individual and system to work together towards successfully changing the culture of your campus.

At Jayhawkville Central High School I noticed that the school showcased different circuits of communicating that is affecting the overall dynamic of the school. At Jayhawkville Central High School the Principal, is a strong leader and direct when he communicates, but is reluctant to implement ideas or suggestions from his building staff. The Principal has also alienated the staff, and showcases strict rules, but the staff is usually unclear about his expectations, and afraid to ask questions. With the Principals leadership style, there’s a clear disconnect among staff members which has interrupted the effectiveness of the curriculum being taught in the classrooms. The assistant principals at the school are also driven by different entities.

Novice principals implementing change can be one of great challenge. With the demands of being a principal today we must have perseverance to make a positive vision become reality. According to a recent study done on 200 novice principals asking about the challenges they face implementing change, 121 of them plan to leave the profession (Bayar, 2016, p. 194). In this qualitative research study, principals also state that undesired behaviors have increased in today’s schools (Bayar, 2016, p. 197). I have been in two different school districts and in both I have experienced new administrators. In both cases, there was backlash from staff and students about new behavioral and intervention plans. Change will always be accompanied with backlash in trying to establish a new culture. I have been fortunate enough to see a pbss system come to fruition at my current school. In the end, the teachers are the ones who ultimately incorporate the change in their classrooms. Principals must be highly involved and consistent in implementing the

The complexity of demands facing school leaders is a function of serving many constituencies and stakeholders, each having a variety of needs. Navigating complex educational contexts presents significant opportunities and challenges for school principals. The purpose of this study is establishing developing leaders with the abilities as transformational leaders, and tapping into principal efficacy as insightful elements of leadership development. Researchers question how Canada’s Outstanding Principal’s (COP) program strengthens the relationship between transformational leadership and principal efficacy.

The documentary “The Principal Story” focuses on the leadership qualities and behaviors of two principals as they navigate through a single academic year. Although the demographics of the schools may at first appear to be vastly dissimilar, upon closer review of the clientele served by each school, the only stark contrast is the race of the students. Both schools are located in impoverished communities and both principals face similar challenges as they lead their schools in striving for both academic and social success.

The principal’s role in developing positive community relations sets the tone for communication patterns, partnership formation and/or alienation (Fiore, 2013). There are many tasks that the principal has that is important to school and community relations. Some of those are being a good listener, diplomatic and tactful and all situations. They also have to promote the open door policy to be free to communicate with students, parents, and their staff. They also have to inform the superintendent and community about good and bad things that are

Effective school leadership today must combine the traditional school leadership duties such as teacher evaluation, budgeting, scheduling, and facilities maintenance with a deep involvement with specific aspects of teaching and learning. Effective instructional leaders are intensely involved in curricular and instructional issues that directly affect student achievement (Cotton, 2003). The writer of this paper acknowledges that school principals should play the role of instructional leaders, not just a school manager. The reality is that are many demands on a principals time and management skills making it difficult for most of them to spend time in classrooms, when performing teacher evaluation. Principals often make sure that teachers