School Leadership that Works Essay

The responsibility of preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s future involves more than orchestrating the curriculum students learn and the teachers who teach it. It involves the ability to employ the leadership styles fluently based on the everyday demands of running a school (Goleman, 2000). Informed by both research and real-world application, the Wallace Foundation identified five key functions of a successful leader: “shaping a vision of academic success for all students, creating a climate hospitable to education, cultivating leadership in others, improving instruction, [and] managing people, data, and processes to foster school improvement” (Harvey, 2013, pg. 4). To be an effective 21st century educational leader, one must cultivate a sustainable vision and school culture which are globally-minded, yet locally applicable to the community they serve.

Leadership is, and always has been, a vital aspect of social and economic constructs. It is essential to the survival of societies, industries, organizations, and virtually any group of individuals that come together for a common purpose. However, leadership is difficult to define in a single, definitive sense. As such, theories of leadership, what constitutes a great leader, and how leaders are made have evolved constantly throughout history, and still continue to change today in hopes of improving upon our understanding of leadership, its importance, and how it can be most effective in modern organizational cultures.

In my four years of highschool I have developed many characteristics that allow me to be a strong leader. I have found that being a leader is something that comes natural to me. I have found my self leading in many different situations. I have been a varsity baseball and football captain for two years. I have had to lead a team, and communicate with teammates and coaches. I know how to collaborate with others to perform well in competition. I take pride in being chosen to be the leader of my teams, I enjoy being a reliable and responsible person for others to count on. Leadership is a great quality no matter who the person.

Abstract: There are numerous definitions of leadership, all of which contain elements related to people (the leader and the follower(s)), communicating in person or by the written word, actions (organizing, directing, coaching, and/or motivating), and for a purpose (meeting a goal(s) or accomplishing a task(s)) (ADP 6-22) (Fisher 2015) (Bolden 2013) (Hogan 2005). Additionally, everything done occurs within a given context. Effective leaders are poised, proficient, pertinent, and practical in the application of the art of leadership. This means leaders are ready to engage the group with effective methods and

Every person has a different definition of what makes a leader. Some feel a leader is inspirational, while others regard leadership as someone who can give criticism and make the tough decisions. Each definition is unique, and each is vague. This is why the definitions of leadership people use aren’t always accurate. Bolman and Deal, however, do an excellent job of presenting four frames of leadership people use to successfully—or unsuccessfully—support and lead a group of people. The four frames presented by the authors are: human resource, symbolic, structural, and political. The human resource frame is used by leaders to empathize with their followers, the symbolic frame is used to inspire and unite followers around a vision, the structural frame is used to emphasize the importance of a process, and the political frame establishes competition and focuses on creating allies.

Number of studies have asserted that teaching experience of principal positively associates with his/her instructional leadership (Eberts & Stone, 1988; Glasman, 1984; Hallinger, 1983; Leithwood et al., 1990). Studies have identified personal values of principal to indirectly shape his/her attention to varying aspects of educational programs (Barth, 1980, 1990; Cuban, 1988; Glasman, 1984; Leithwood et al., 1990, 1992). “Research on effects of principal leadership on student learning draws its conceptual lineage more directly from research on school effectiveness and school improvement.” (Hallinger, Bickman and Davis,

Educational leaders play significant roles in the modern society. Their effectiveness depends on their strengths. Primarily, it is vital having a comprehensive understanding of who is an educational

Using the 21 leadership responsibilities, which are based in research as being correlated with student achievement as the basis for a strong and balanced leadership framework. What has become clear to me is that just as we ask teachers to be intentional and show the purpose of their lessons, we too as leaders need to be very clear about creating a purposeful learning community. In their interviews with principals, it was said that none were outstanding leaders when they started. It was the only attained by working hard overtime. Patters started to emerge across these highly successful leaders and through qualitative analysis six common traits were identified: deep conviction & moral purpose, a selfless, iron will to improve performance, a deep reservoir of optimism, emotional intelligence & relationship building, a commitment to self-improvement and less mystery, more

Clinical practice is an excellent opportunity that instills the leadership skills especially as a P-20 leader for the days to come. I am learning new things every day from my school system that provides immense experience. And I strongly believe that getting an experience from such an educational system by following the district’s administrative leaders enhanced my P-20 leadership experiences in different ways.

It is vital to the success of our schools, including student learning, that school leaders have the skills, abilities and knowledge to lead effectively throughout the school environment. There is a limited amount of research available to assist school districts with the selection of appropriate professional development activities for administrators (Grissom & Harrington, 2010). The Wallace Foundation has researched the area of school leadership since 2000 and has published more than 70 reports on the subject (2013, p.5). Through their research work the Wallace Foundation is clear on the depths of the school leadership role and its complexities. The work through the Wallace Foundation states leadership is only second to classroom instruction among factors which impact student learning (Wallace Foundation, 2013, p. 5). Harvey and Holland (2012) in another Wallace Foundation research paper found improving school leadership ranks high on the list of priorities for school reform.

After reading chapter 1 of School Leadership that Works, it is evident that leadership is considered to be vital to the successful functioning of many schools. A few aspects of schooling that have been linked to leadership are clear mission and goals, overall climate, attitude of teachers, classroom practices of teachers, organization of curriculum and instructions, and students' opportunity to learn. “Students in effective schools as opposed to ineffective schools have a 44 percent difference in their expected passing rate on a test that has a typical passing rate of 50 percent.” (Marzano 3) Because leadership is perceived to be important to the successful performance of schools, no wonder that an effective principal is thought as a necessary

There are many things that influence academic achievement in schools. The most effective change agent affecting how a teacher instructs is the principal (Goff, Edward Guthrie, Goldring, Bickman, 2014). An effective leader can influence and have a positive impact on all stakeholders (Schmidt-Davis &Bottoms, 2011). This makes the principal 's leadership vital.

Leadership is a very broad topic; I never knew just how many different traits and skills that it takes to become an effective leader. Some of which I was familiar with, and others that I was not aware of, but now from taking this course, they all seem to be necessary for the role of leadership. The attached paper, will explain of some of the important theories and concepts that I thought were most important to be able to become and effective leader.

“What do effective leaders do to remain effective?” was a question that I proposed to my Leadership Application Program Speakers Round Table Class. In response I received a number of answers from personality traits to emotional intelligence. Leadership is a word that can be defined in many different ways. In the article “Leadership That Gets Results” they take the time and breakdown the six different steps of leadership, the six styles are coercive, authoritative, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting and coaching. The late David McClelland, a noted Harvard University psychologist, found that leaders with strengths in a critical mass of six or more emotional intelligence

Those who learn to be instructional leaders acquire many characteristics that are beneficial to their schools and communities. The writer concurs that Instructional leaders exhibit a clear sense of direction for their schools and prioritize and focus attention on the things that really