Improving School Leadership byBuilding Cohesive Leadership Systems : Improving School Leadership byBuilding Cohesive Leadership Systems NASBE: Expanding Effective Practices in Teaching and Leadership to Promote Student Learning
March 17, 2010
Catherine Augustine
We Conducted Cross-Case Analyses on Ten Purposively Sampled Sites : We Conducted Cross-Case Analyses on Ten Purposively Sampled Sites
States Pursued a Variety of Policies and Initiatives in Six Policy Areas : States Pursued a Variety of Policies and Initiatives in Six Policy Areas Broadening positions addressed by standards
Revising evaluation processes and tools
Revising requirements for initial licensure and re-licensure
Sunsetting programs
Mandating mentoring
Providing necessary data Standards Evaluation Pre-service and recruitment Licensure In-service Conditions District and state roles converging
Prevalence of Policy Areas Varied : Prevalence of Policy Areas Varied Most common policy areas:
Standards
Pre-service & recruitment
In-service
Less common policy areas:
Licensure
Evaluation
Conditions
Favorable ConditionsPositively Related to Instructional Leadership : Favorable ConditionsPositively Related to Instructional Leadership Most conditions positively associated with time spent on instructional leadership practices
Professional development, tools, and evaluations associated with all but one practice
Better resources, support, and data all associated with satisfaction with time spent on most instructional leadership practices
Better resources related to greater satisfaction on time spent on all practices
Creating Positive Conditions Necessitates Coordinated System-Building between State and District Actors : Creating Positive Conditions Necessitates Coordinated System-Building between State and District Actors Increasing authority over various schooling decisions could require both legislative and collective bargaining agreement changes
Legislatures can shape quality of evaluation systems and professional development
Then implemented by districts
States impact school funding
And districts make allocation decisions
States Pursued Eight Strategies to Build Cohesive Leadership Systems : States Pursued Eight Strategies to Build Cohesive Leadership Systems Identifying strong individuals with political and social capital to lead the work
Building trust
Creating formal and informal networks
Fostering communications
Exerting pressure and influence
Promoting improved quality of leadership policies and initiatives
Building capacity for the work
Connecting to other reform efforts
Across The Ten Sites, Many Contextual Factors Favored CLS Work : Across The Ten Sites, Many Contextual Factors Favored CLS Work Common structures and policies
History of collaboration
Strong pre-existing social networks
Wallace funding and technical assistance
Political support
Other Contextual Factors Inhibited Progress : Other Contextual Factors Inhibited Progress Limited resources (people and time)
Key staff turnover
Limited SEA capacity
Too many organizations, too far apart
Culture of independence
Discord across organizations
Recommendations for States Considering Development of CLS : Recommendations for States Considering Development of CLS Consider their context, particularly whether they have
A culture and history of collaboration and strong social networks
Identify strong lead organizations and individuals
Willing and able to combine pressure with support
Skilled at system-building
Engage a broad coalition of stakeholders
Build trust
Identifying “lead learner” districts
Establish networks and communications media
Challenges of Sustaining and Expanding CLS : Challenges of Sustaining and Expanding CLS Funding uncertainty after Wallace grant ends
Staff turnover
Weak organizational commitment
Difficulty of staying faithful to original intent with scale-up
Tension between value of cohesion across state and value of respecting local context
Strategies for Sustaining, Expanding CLS : Strategies for Sustaining, Expanding CLS Anchor work in standards
Legislate and regulate initiatives
Demonstrate results and advocate for new funding
Develop and maintain common understandings, shared goals, joint ownership, buy-in
Do succession planning and provide ongoing professional development, technical assistance
Establish distributed leadership systems and vest leadership of efforts in apolitical organizations
Document work and develop products to outlast people
Create incentives for ongoing participation
Ultimately, Many Felt That Achieving Cohesion Was a Hedge Against Failure in the Future : Ultimately, Many Felt That Achieving Cohesion Was a Hedge Against Failure in the Future Achieved widespread commitment to goals
Established new norms and behaviors for communicating and conducting joint work “No turning back now.”
Important to Both Shape the Workforce and Support the School Leaders : Important to Both Shape the Workforce and Support the School Leaders Many states have made progress on standards, some have made progress on pre-service training
Policies necessary for shaping the workforce
Equally important to support the new workforce
Meaningful evaluations tied to the standards
Timely data
Sufficient authority
Adequate resources (staff, time to learn, funding)
Slide 15: http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG885/
Principals’ Satisfaction with Their Conditions Mixed : Principals’ Satisfaction with Their Conditions Mixed State and district data are organized, reliable, useful
State data not timely
Have authority over various schooling decisions
Want more authority over removing teachers
Districts provide them with quality professional development, evaluations, and other tools
Do not have sufficient leadership support
Desire assistant principals, coaches, etc.
Do not have sufficient resources (funding, time, staff)
Different Paths Taken to Build Cohesive Leadership Systems : Different Paths Taken to Build Cohesive Leadership Systems In some states, districts took the lead
Structures for convening and leading stakeholders varied
Lead organizations varied across states
As did extent to which CLS efforts were aligned to other reform efforts in the state
Primary focus varied
In-service vs pre-service, for example
States Rated Most Cohesive Shared Some Common Approaches : States Rated Most Cohesive Shared Some Common Approaches Pursued all eight strategies
Especially building capacity, identifying strong leaders, and connecting to other reform efforts
These states also fostered more strategic communications
They also used a combination of pressure and support to further CLS agenda