stuart yager-impact of school leadership

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NATIONAL FORUM OF APPLIED EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL

VOLUME 25, NUMBERS 1 & 2, 2011-2012

Impact of School Leadership on Teacher’s Professional

Growth: Teacher Perception of Administrative Support

Stuart Yager, PhDWestern Illinois University

Jeffrey Pedersen, PhDConnecting Learning Assures Successful Students

Robert E. Yager, PhDUniversity of Iowa

Rene Noppe, EdDWestern Illinois University

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ABSTRACT

This study focuses on the understandings twenty-six teachers developed from ten

elementary schools concerning how school leadership has affected the process of

implementing professional development initiatives. Teachers rarely identified

principals as co-learners alongside their teachers. Teachers reported a lack of trust

amongst the staff; perceived their principal as not committed to the initiative; and

mentioned few leadership support systems. Prior research on barriers of shared

decision making was compared. Findings suggest that such barriers are present in

several schools.

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More now than ever before, educators are being challenged with higher demandsand requirements in preparing our future generations for the 21st century. Educator

development is a major concern in our current school system. Professional development

for teachers is a key focus in school transformation efforts. School transformation intoday’s educational system is dependent, in part, by how well teachers work together

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STUART YAGER, JEFFREY PEDERSEN, ROBERT E. YAGER, and RENENOPPE

with their principal and colleagues (Louis, Leithwood, Wahlstrom, & Anderson, 2010).

Recent research has focused on the role of the school principal and other site-based

leaders in the implementation of professional development initiatives (Pedersen, Yager,

& Yager, 2010). Principals play a key role in supporting and encouraging teachers’ professional development needs. Successful principals establish the work conditions that

enable teachers to be better teachers. The ability to share with others and collaborate for the purpose of providing instruction conducive to enhance student development is criticalgiven the many demands that are being put upon the system. Studies have reported

specific leadership characteristics present in schools where professional development

initiatives have quality levels of implementation (Yager, Pedersen, & Yager, 2010).Enabling teachers to work with colleagues and building administrative leaders can

be extremely challenging yet vitally important for successful implementation of

professional development initiatives (Burrello, Hoffman, and Murray, 2005). Much of this facilitation is dependent upon the principal and other school administrators being

flexible and accommodating by providing collaborative work time; being an important

part of the learning process; and being open to the diffusion of leadership roles.

Distributing leadership within a school and teachers engaged in collaborativelearning during professional development initiatives are attributes that will serve school

systems well in creating a positive school-wide climate and culture built upon common

languages, beliefs, and values that establish a level of excellence in student preparation(Louis, et al., 2010). In order to increase the depth of implementation of professional

development initiatives focused on pedagogy and improvements in student learning, a

distributed leadership framework involving multiple learning-centered leaders has beenreported to produce positive effects (Sherer, 2004). Only a few studies provide both

qualitative and quantitative evidence regarding the impact of distributed leadership

practices on the implementation of professional development initiatives designed to

improve school effectiveness and student achievement (Copeland, 2003; Harris, 2004;

Leithwood et al., 2002). Additionally, there has been a call to explore the actual behaviors and influences associated with core leadership practices that occur with

distributed leadership frameworks (Louis et al., 2010). This study focuses on providingresearch results for this call by examining the relationship between distributed leadership,

collaboration among teachers and administrators, and school improvements through

professional development initiatives.

Methods and Procedures

This qualitative study focuses on the understandings of twenty-six teachers from

ten elementary schools in the Midwest concerning how school leadership has affected theimplementation of school-wide professional development initiatives. The teacherssurveyed were attending a week-long summer professional development workshop in the

Midwest of the United States. Attendance to the workshop was not mandated; rather it

was voluntary participation by the teachers during their summer break.The workshop was hosted by C.L.A.S.S. Education, Connecting Learning Assures

Successful Students, a non-profit organization serving K-12 educators and administrators.

The C.L.A.S.S. Model represents a systemic approach and philosophy aligned with

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academic mastery, character building, and positive social interactions for student

preparation in the workforce.

Prior to the start of the workshop, the teachers were sent an invitation to

participate in an online pre-workshop survey. The survey was designed using a set of open-ended questions regarding their perception of how the leadership in their school

supported professional development initiatives and what, if anything, the leadership coulddo to improve their support. Leadership was defined as the principal and, whenapplicable, the leadership team within the school.

Results

Griffin (1995) suggests that the school culture plays a critical role in howeffectively and efficiently school improvement can occur. In each of the teacher

responses, school culture was investigated as a context in understanding the impact of

leadership including distributed leadership, collaboration, and team learning in each

school.This study identifies common themes present in the teacher responses and how

the presence and absence of these themes affected the school climate, as well as staff and

student development.It is within this context that teachers described how their school leadership had

and had not established a school culture of trust and non-threatening environments that

helped or hindered the implementation of professional development initiatives.Leslie (all names used in this report are pseudonyms), a teacher surveyed for this

study described her school’s environment this way:

“We collaborate frequently to share ideas and suggestions to make the best learning

environment we can. Other grade levels give suggestions and feedback on how we canimprove learning strategies for our children.”

Juxtaposed is William’s explanation of the environment in his school:

“At the current time, the environment is more divisive. Staff is spending more timecutting each other down when offering creative solutions than collaborating.”

Four themes evolved as critical components in successfully implementing professional development initiatives: Principal is a Co-Learner with the Teachers;

Teacher Leadership Team is a Critical Support Mechanism; Professional Growth is

Nurtured Through Adequate Time; and School Staff is a Team that Trusts Each Other.Prior research identifies these themes in similar studies (Yager, et al., 2010).

Principal is a Co-Learner with the Teachers

Results suggest that the principal’s leadership plays a crucial role in the successful

implementation of professional development initiatives. A leading factor contributing to

this success was described that the principal was a co-learner along with the teachers; that

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the principal was not only present at the coaching and training sessions, but was actively

engaged and participating as a learner with the teachers. Crowther (2009) describes this

new role for the principal as one that fosters communities of people working together so

that their collective intelligence results in creation of new knowledge that in turnenhances classroom instruction.

Results indicate that only 23% of the teachers surveyed stated that their principal played a supporting role in their professional development and participated alongsideteachers during professional development. Sam stated that:

“Our principal sees the positive effects of professional development in C.L.A.S.S. because she attends the workshops with us. She implements is into her daily

announcements, and assemblies. It makes a BIG different when she is supporting what

we see as important. She sees the importance because she’s learning alongside us!”Other teachers stated similar explanations:

“Having a leader that gets excited about what you are excited about and helps to promote

continued learning.”

“Our principal is a wonderful leader. He always finds ways to help keep morale up and

bring new ideas to the teachers. Whenever a seminar is available for us, he always gets

the information to us. He's a good example because he attends them as well.”

“Our principal supports and believes in what we do. He learns with us.”

This type of alignment is referred to as team learning (Senge, 1990). When a team becomes more aligned, a commonality of direction emerges and individuals’ energies

harmonize. There becomes less wasted energy and the staff begins to develop a

commonality of purpose, shared vision, and an understanding of how to complement oneanother’s efforts.

Teachers indicating a lack of leadership presence as a co-learner described it thisway:

“Our current administration rarely participates in the professional developments and

doesn't do what we are being taught. I’m not sure she knows what professionaldevelopment is.”

“Leadership had no follow through after several requests for professional development. I

made specific requests to our principal to have someone from C.L.A.S.S. come to us andeven gave contact information for a certain person. Leadership made no effort.”

Teacher Leadership Team is a Critical Support Mechanism

Results indicate that 75% of the teachers surveyed stated that their leadership

team consisting of teachers from their building was the key in planning professionaldevelopment for the school. In only a few cases, the principal was listed as a member of

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the leadership team. In some schools a formal teacher leadership team existed and was

comprised of teachers from each grade level. In other schools an informal teachers

leadership team was in place and, yet informal, assisted the leadership in making

decisions. The functions of the teams were described by two teachers this way:

“The leadership within our building is made up of teachers, counselors and support staff and together, they always are a part of the planning of professional developmentinitiatives. After hearing what others go through, I wouldn't trade my administrator for

anyone else!”

“Our support team helped plan for the start of the year and was part of our PD throughout

the year. While our principal plans the agenda, most often it is our staff that brings the

PD.”

The effects of the leadership teams were found to be a positive support system for

the teaching staff. A possible explanation for this success is that the leadership team

structure gives regularity and stability to human behavior in a system and provides theopportunity to predict, in part, the behavior of individual members of the school system,

including the adoption of new professional development initiatives (Rogers, 1995).

One teacher reported a different relationship with school leadership describing it this

way:

“Our school is like a ship moving across the waters without a captain. Our principal

makes decisions, but allows the staff to badger her until she backs down and changes her

mind. It reminds me of children who throw tantrums until they get their way.”

Reeves (2010) suggests that successful teaching depends upon teacher leaderswho provide feedback to help their colleagues and who receive feedback on the impact of

their support.

Professional Growth is Nurtured Through Adequate Time

Adequate time for individuals is a critical factor that needs considerable attention

when implementing professional development initiatives. The teachers involved in the

change process range from innovators who are described as active information seekersabout new ideas and who are likely to be the first to adopt a new idea, to what Rodgers

(1995) describes as laggards who are generally suspicious of any change and are often

people who need additional time for buy-in.Most teachers surveyed described their principals as not fully supportive of the

initiative and lacking leadership skills on how to support the staff in implementing the

new strategies. Only 30% of the teachers stated that they had time to learn through

professional development opportunities. Most believed that being given adequate time for professional development was essential. These teachers focused mostly on the lack of

time to learn and implement professional development initiatives. Three teachers

described it like this:

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“I feel that our leadership and staff are very concerned with the amount of time spent on

professional development and limiting it to contract hours. Sometimes this is to the

detriment of the ability to grow as a professional. I would like to see more enthusiasm putinto professional development and would like to see it wrap around to everything we do

instead of it limiting to one day a week after school.”

“Professional development has all but disappeared since schools lost the ability to use

half days for it. Our administrators simply do not know how to work it into the schedule.

Teachers have requested certain presenters, but no visible efforts have been made toarrange these professional development experiences. We need more time.”

“Professional development is lacking in our school and in schools all over the state. I believe much of this is due to the initiatives of the Department of Education at the state

level. I would like to see more professional development sessions that are really

beneficial, not just a "time filler" on Tuesday afternoons. I feel that the majority of those

times have been wasted and could have been put to better use by just working in myclassroom.”

School Staff is a Team that Trusts Each Other

A prominent barrier described by the teachers is the lack of trust amongst the

entire staff and administration. This lack of trust creates suspicion of integrity, agendas,and capabilities and becomes very difficult to communicate effectively. In a low trust

environment, you can be very articulate and still be misinterpreted due to suspicion

(Covey, 2006).

Results indicate that only 52% of those surveyed stated they believe there is trust

between principal and teachers, among the teachers, as well as positive staff collaborationand cohesiveness in their building. Bob describes his school like this:

“Our Building Administrator has created and nurtured a building of distrust. She uses and

pits people against one another. She protects the less adept teachers because they are her

puppets and building tattletales. They will also go along with anything and everything shedictates regardless of the absurdity to keep their jobs. Everyone knows this and as a result

those teachers aren't valued or truly respected as a result. Amazingly enough those

teachers are clueless and think they are all that and more! The Building Administrator creates a Junior High cliquish atmosphere. She also treats the grade levels unfairly due to

this as well. She manipulates the puppets totally. None of this bodes well with the true

dedicated professionals that do their jobs day in and day out and achieve positive results.The other teachers are afraid to speak up or voice their feelings or opinions for fear of retaliation.”

Roxanne stated:

“The leadership feels non-existent. When the principal wants to make a decision, (s)he

doesn't stand firm. Change isn't easy for anyone, especially educators, but we need to be

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intentional in what we are doing to make change happen. Data should drive our

initiatives; PD should be intentional and meaningful. We should be using the PD times to

collaborate, discuss, strategize and plan ways we can effectively change processes and

practices to improve what we do and positively impact student achievement.”

Trust greatly affects how teachers communicate and share with each other whichsignificantly impacts the effectiveness and efficiency of how professional developmentinitiatives are diffused throughout the school (Pedersen et al., 2010). Trust is one thing

that is common to every relationship, team, and organization that if developed and

leveraged, can have a potential impact to create unparalleled successes and prosperity inevery dimension of life (Covey, 2006). Barbara, a surveyed teacher, describes it like this:

“We collaborate frequently to share ideas and suggestions to make the best learningenvironment we can. Other grade levels give suggestions and feedback on how we can

improve learning strategies for our children. We trust each other!”

This type of trust and communication is described by Rodgers (1995) as opennesswhere two or more individuals become willing to share their thinking and are susceptible

to having their thinking influenced by others. Openness has great benefits where the

individuals gain access to deeper understandings that otherwise would not be accessible.

Discussion/Conclusions

Researchers have discussed the important role leadership plays in supporting

teachers’ professional development needs (Lindstrom, P. & Speck, M., 2004). Studies

have suggested that trust by teachers in the school leadership is not essential to transform

a school (Louis et al., 2010). However, results from recent research and this studyindicate that trust in leadership is not only appreciated but key to the school-wide

implementation of professional development initiatives (Yager, et al., 2010). Schoolleaders have a significant influence on teachers’ classroom practices through their efforts

to motivate teachers and create workplace settings compatible with instructional practices

known to be effective (Louis et al., 2010). Additionally, this study supports the notionthat giving teachers adequate time is essential for quality professional development.

Observations have been made that distributed forms of leadership among a school

staff are likely to have significant impact on positive student achievement (Bell et al.,2003). It is critical that schools create opportunities for school leaders and school

leadership teams to work together, united in school improvement efforts (Spillane, 2006).

Several researchers (Elmore, 2000; Miles et al., 2002; Joyce, 2004; Odden et al.,2009) have suggested that effective professional development is linked to the structuralfeature of collective participation. The professional development should be organized

around groups of teachers from a school that over time would include everyone in the

school – that is, the entire faculty and other students. Furthermore, effectivesustainability of professional development initiatives have been linked to distributed

leadership frameworks and learning-centered leaders within individual schools

(Southworth, 1998). When a school’s professional learning-centered community engages

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in school wide professional development and, at the same time, works toward

development of a distinctive identity, it maximizes its capacity to enhance outcomes,

particularly relative to student achievement (Crowther et al., 2001). The sustainability of

professional development initiatives may be directly increased by increasing the densityof leadership opportunities across a school building so that everyone has access to

facilitative leaders who can help articulate and analyze the level of implementation.Increasing teachers’ involvement in the difficult task of making good decisions andintroducing improved practices must be at the heart of school leadership (Louis et al.,

2010).

Research on shared decision making in schools has identified barriers preventingdecision making that focuses on pedagogy and quality instruction (Griffin, 1995). This is

due mostly to the culture of isolation between teachers found in most schools and the

general non-confrontive tone set between teachers who work together in the same school building. Typically, teachers remain unaware of what their colleagues are doing in their

individual classrooms and this, combined with strong divisions commonly found between

administrators and teachers, creates a culture of individuality and private practice. This

study provides evidence for the importance of collaboration and teaming as critical for implementing professional development initiatives.

However, this study demonstrates that when teachers view their principal as a

learner, learning about good teaching alongside them, the depth of implementation will be increased. Additionally, this study and others report that when teachers view their

principal as isolated and not committed passionately to instructional improvement, their

own level of engagement and follow-through with the implementation of professionaldevelopment initiatives will be diminished (Pedersen et al., 2010). Clearly, teachers want

to know that their principal supports professional development efforts and is engaged

with them in the learning process.

In addition, findings from this study indicate the strong desire among teachers to

collaborate with each other in order to implement the professional developmentinitiatives. Having a peer group serve as a leadership team was seen as a force and

motivation for implementation of the initiative. Additionally, this study documented thatsupport for teacher empowerment by central office and its expectations for support at the

building-level is viewed as essential by teachers. This finding is supported by previous

research that showed emphasis by central office on professional development for qualityinstruction is key to achieving high-level implementation (Louis et al., 2010).

Continued research is needed in the area of how leadership is distributed and the

impact it has on the implementation of professional development initiatives. In this study,a central finding was that when leadership was distributed to the teachers and in these

schools the principal was seen as a co-learner alongside the teachers, professional

development initiatives were most successfully implemented. Emphasizing, and perhapsmost importantly, that teachers viewed the principal as a learner with them. This supportsthe notion that holistic professional learning, when teachers and principals learn together,

changes the culture of the learning environment that could, in effect, lead to enhanced

student outcomes (Crowther, 2009). It is recommended that similar research beconducted that examines leadership support of professional development initiatives to

explore barriers and successes of implementation in the context of leadership distribution.

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