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.