Instructional Leadership Research Paper

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.

Closing the achievement gap is not an easy task. However, education leaders have a moral obligation to create a system of student supports and a belief system in which all students achieve beyond the standards. A superintendent's belief system and passion need to extend outward. As you move your institution toward the goal of everyone passionately believing, as a district leader, you only hire teachers, administrators, secretaries, bus drivers, custodians and all staff members who believe this as deeply as you do. By doing this, you begin to change the culture of your institution be it a school or an entire district.

There is a great volume of literature on the need for effective leadership skills among tutors in order to promote student learning through quality instruction. As mentioned in the previous chapter, this realization is significant for many reasons. As such, this chapter reinforces the research question through a critical analysis of the existing literature with the aim of coming up with a different line of thought. As such, the study could offer a new dimension of leadership perception that is appropriate in fostering student learning in the modern and changing school setting. Although such characteristics are common across various sectors, the findings of this research put focus specifically on educators with the purpose of improving the quality of education and improved curriculum outcomes. The study could also employ various leadership theories to ensure the achievement of reliable findings.

Teacher leaders and administrators play a vital role in the overall organizational structure of a school. As discussed in Educational Leadership, there are ten roles that teacher leaders tend to gravitate towards. The roles of teacher leaders vary according to duties and responsibilities placed on the teacher leader, they include the following: resource provider, instructional specialist, curriculum specialist, classroom supporter, learning facilitator, mentor, school leader, data coach, catalyst for change, and learner (Harrison & Killion, 2007, pg. 74-77). As a teacher leadership at Lake Oconee Academy, I personally see my duties and responsibilities covering several of these roles. Since the beginning of my employment at Lake Oconee

My philosophy of education is correlated to my vision of education and my role as an instructional leader. Excellent administrators possess personal characteristics of exemplary leadership talent in analysis of data, organizational constructs, leadership decisiveness, oral and written communication, technological confidence, personal motivation and educational integrity within school systems. Educational leadership is a vital position in which I persistently evaluate every decision I make on behalf of students; what is the educational value? Will all students benefit? Is it fiscally responsible? How do we sustain success? In order for students to be competitive locally, nationally and internationally, I am committed to providing effective,

Leithwood and Jantzi argue the ability to articulate a clear vision is an essential attribute for school leaders (2008, p. 507). Goal setting is a powerful motivator for change and when leaders are able to clearly communicate inspiration vision to those they lead, it is possible to harness this motivation to bring about school improvement in student learning (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2008, p.507). Clearly defined goals encourage school community to contribute to common goals and also streamlines decision making as only options that align with the vision need to be considered (Hallinger, 2010, p.129).

Palmer Lake Elementary School refers to a public elementary school located in Brooklyn Park. The school has 678 students with majority being Whites and non-Hispanics. The teachers; population is between 40 and 50 teachers: 6 speech teacher, two reading teacher, 3 gym physical, two music teachers, 28 for regular classes, one media. Accordingly, the ratio of students to teachers is approximately 15:1. Each class has varying number of students ranging from 19 to 28 students. Approximately 54 percent of the students are male and 46 percent are female. The percentage of students eligible for subsidized lunch is 65. This essay examines the leadership skills and styles of Dr. Tim Brown after an interview in his office. Dr. Tim is the principal of Palmer Lake Elementary School and plays the following roles. First, he shapes the vision of academic success and instructional competence for all students and teachers respectively. Second, he plays the role of creating a climate and environment that is hospitable for learning. Third, he cultivates leadership in other teachers. Fourth, he is answerable to external stakeholders such as parents and state education authorities concerning the school’s performances and use of resources. Effective educational leadership is a continuous process that involves self-examination, learning from others, collaboration and sustainable use of resources to accomplish the goals and

Love, N., Stiles, K., Mundry, S., & DiRanna, K. (2008). The data coach’s guide to improving

Two instructional leadership actions our principal has taken is to work side by side teachers to develop a school-wide reading goal in accordance with our Student Improvement Plan and to develop and implement a tutoring period we call Core for low achieving students. Jason works many hours during each week reviewing student grades and moving struggling students in and out of Core or moving struggling students from one teacher’s Core to another teacher’s

Goal Two: Find staff who are providing exceptional care to patients and publicly recognizing one person per week by placing a note on the staff bulletin board stating who was “Caught Being AWESOME!”.

Summative assessment data is rolling in! Now that we have data, it is important that we ensure that we have reputable and quality assured data. This is where you all come in! Over the next 48 hours, the following actions from you all are needed to ensure that we have accurate data:

Mary used her gift of writing to effectively communicate her stance on women's rights, and help spread awareness for her cause.

Marzano, McNulty and Waters propose five steps for a plan of effective school leadership. The first step is developing a leadership team with purpose. The definition used for a purposeful community is one with the collective efficacy and capability to develop and use assets to accomplish goals that mater to all community members through agreed-upon process (Marzano, et. al, 2005). The second step is distributing some responsibilities throughout the leadership team. The third step is to select the right work. The fourth step is to identify the order of magnitude implied by the selected work. The last step is to match the management style to the order of magnitude of the change initiative. The last step incorporates whether this is first or second order change.

The Development of Management and Leadership Capability and its Contribution to Performance: The evidence, the prospects and the research need

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