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Role Group Strategies
Community
Promote an awareness of the changing and increasingly complex role of administrators from that of a building manager to an instructional leader.
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Interactive Case Study: System Wide Change
The George Lucas Educational Foundation. (2003).
http://glef.org/systemreform/home.html
This site provides an in-depth look at the successful school reform efforts of Union City Public Schools in New Jersey. The contents are organized around five key factors in reform: leadership, curriculum/assessment, professional development, technology, and community. Under leadership, the authors explain how the district assessed and addressed their unique needs, in addition to describing the new curricula written by a teacher and the importance of empowering teachers and district administrators.
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Instructional Module: View of the Principal and the Job
The George Lucas Educational Foundation. (2004).
http://glef.org/modules/prin/index.php
This module outlines the various job responsibilities of a principal for those outside of or thinking of joining the profession. The contents focus on professional development and mentoring and profile three innovative leaders in different school settings.
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The New Principal
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. (2000, Spring). Northwest Education Magazine
http://www.nwrel.org/nwedu/spring00/index.html
This tool outlines the characteristics needed by principals to effectively serve as instructional leaders and capably build leadership in others. It provides examples of successful principals from the Northwest and links toschool leadership resources.
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The Seven Principles of Sustainable Leadership
Hargreaves, A. and Fink, D. (2004, April). Educational Leadership, 61(7), 8-13.
http://www.ascd.org/publications/ed_lead/200404/hargreaves.html
This article outlines seven principles of sustainable leadership uncovered in a 30-year study of eight American and Canadian high schools. Unlike traditional leadership practices that bring about “flurries of change but little lasting or widespread improvement,” this article outlines practices that both individual administrators and school districts can implement to bring significant, long term reform to schools.
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Community
Advocate for and support the establishment of principal professional development programs.
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The Story of CSLA: Making a Difference for Administrators
WestEd Regional Educational Laboratory. (2000, Fall). R+D Alert.
http://www.wested.org/online_pubs/rd-00-03.pdf
Leadership development academies have become an increasingly common approach to addressing the issue of principal professional development. This brief outlines several state-wide approaches to principal professional development and school leadership. Beginning with a description of the California School Leadership Academy (CSLA), the brief also examines what it takes to be an effective leader and the leadership potential in the community. Finally, the it profiles the Western Assessment Collaborative’s Leadership Initiative, which emphasizes leadership in support of standards based instruction.
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Principal Leadership Training and School Reform: A Guide for School and District Leaders
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. (2004).
http://www.ncrel.org/csri/tools/lead.htm
This article outlines the characteristics of effective instructional leaders and then details the elements of quality principal professional development programs. It provides a list of questions that schools and districts can use to assess the quality of their leadership training programs and highlights various principal professional development programs from across America.
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ASCD Capwiz Advocacy Toolkit
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. (2004).
http://capwiz.com/ascd/home/
These pages help those interested in education reform become involved in the policy-making process. The site provides links to elected officials, tracks current issues and legislation, and highlights important elections and candidates. It also includes a feature that identifies the major media outlets serving every zip code and allows users to send an advocacy email directly from this site.
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Making the Connection: A Guide to Involving Policymakers in a Community Dialogue on Education
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
http://www.sedl.org/pubs/policy93/policy93.pdf
Engaging policymakers in dialogue on education is a practical action step that communities can take to influence school reform. This resource provides step by step instructions on engaging policymakers in dialogue on education issues. The authors provide a description of different roles for participants, advice on how to make the most of participation both during and after the dialogue, and a recruiting planner to assist in inviting policymakers to the discussion.
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Deliberating about Education: A New Policy Tool?
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. (1999, December). Insights on Education Policy, Practice, and Research 10.
http://www.sedl.org/policy/insights/dec99/
For fundamental changes to occur in American education, conversations must involve all stakeholders from policymakers to parents and teachers. These types of conversations are often difficult to create and sustain because participants often don’t understand their own roles, or the roles of others in the process of dialogue. This article from the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory outlines a “long-standing model for public engagement known as deliberative dialogue.” The document explores the potential of deliberative dialogue to enhance communication between policymakers and the public.
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New Help for School Administrators
Furger, R. (2000, October). Edutopia Online.
http://glef.org/php/article.php?id=Art_168&key=238
This article outlines the need for principal professional development programs and profiles the Higher School Performance Program of the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill's Center for School Leadership. The program helps principals from low-performing schools to understand their school data and to identify structural changes for school improvement. The program also matches principals with "critical friends" or retired administrators who act as mentors.
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