Effective School Leadership raises many questions about effective leadership and how it is seen from different viewpoints. The issues are placed in political context and in relation to a changing world scene.
Education leadership has been subject to a period of turmoil with rapid social change, political demands for excellence, economic pressures for austerity and the influence of technology impacting on leadership roles in multiple ways. This book draws on real examples of practice to identify the key challenges facing educational leadership and how these might be overcome drawing on recent research and interventions that have impacted positively on learner outcomes and teacher retention. Covering all aspects of leadership including school improvement, vision and values, working with partners and leading change, the book launches the concept of atomic leadership, advocating small steps to change for maximum momentum and large-scale impact. It reveals how leaders can cooperate to trial new ways of learning and disseminate their successes and failures with a new honesty and openness about what works in our schools. With reflective tasks in every chapter, this text will inspire debate and inform discussion at staff meetings and is essential reading for all school leaders as well as those undertaking master-level courses in educational leadership and or pursuing the National Professional Qualifications in leadership.
Educational administrators know that leadership requires hundreds of judgments each day that require a sensitivity and understanding of various leadership strategies. Bridging the gap between the academic and practical world, A Guide to Effective School Leadership Theories provides an exploration of ten dominant leadership strategies to give school leaders a solid basis in theory and practical application. Demonstrating the advantages and drawbacks of each theory, readers are encouraged to discover the most appropriate strategy, or combination of strategies, that will best enable their school to achieve positive results. Each Chapter Includes: Introductory vignettes grounding the leadership theory in practice Discussion of the history, development, and utility of the strategy Research findings for further exploration of the theory End-of-chapter questions and activities designed to connect theory to practice This book is essential reading for aspiring and practicing school leaders who wish to have a better understanding of their leadership role. Providing a focused, up-to-date introduction to the current themes and dimensions of educational leadership, A Guide to Effective School Leadership Theories presents all the tools necessary to analyze and implement effective leadership in readers’ own settings.
Successful School Leadership identifies the characteristics, behaviours and practices of successful and effective school leaders through the adoption of a systemic view of the quality of school organizations. Edited by Petros Pashiardis and Olof Johansson, chapters explore the similarities and differences between successful and effective school leaders and across various socioeconomic contexts. Capitalizing on the experiences of the international contributor team, this book will inform the preparation and further development provided to school leaders in an era where ministries of education, universities and multinational organisations (such as the OECD) are increasingly interested in the leadership of our schools. Systematic analyses of multi-perspective data provided from around the world and offers the readers a comprehensive picture of the key behaviours and practices central to successful and effective school leadership. An original contribution to the theoretical perspectives on the subject is derived through insights from empirical research, case studies, and bibliographical literature from the field.
This essential guide for new and veteran school leaders explores 15 vital topics, strategies, and examples for achieving successful school leadership through effective management.
"Arranged to provide readers with theory and research first, Quality Middle School Leadership also provides specific examples of how this research can be applied - providing real meaning to the knowledge and skills that are presented. It is designed to prepare those aspiring to become effective and quality-oriented middle school principals and also to assist practitioners seeking to improve middle school education."--Jacket.
Features lessons learned about the successful implementation of leadership program preparation and development programs that are grant-funded by the United States Department of Education through the School Leadership Program.
This book prepares educational leaders with the knowledge needed to critically evaluate, select, and use technological tools to be effective school leaders. Authors Jones and Kennedy explore the technology tools needed to support the full range of responsibilities of a school leader, including management and administration, personnel and evaluation, security and safety, instructional leadership, organizational culture and climate, external relationships, and action research. Each chapter unpacks advantages and pitfalls of various technological tools and includes case scenarios that contextualize these ideas for readers. Chapter content is also aligned with The Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL), the National Educational Leadership Preparation Standards (NELP), and the International Society of Technology Standard in Education (ISTE) standards. This timely and important book adds to the toolbox for educators preparing to become effective and cutting-edge school leaders.
This book is based on the largest and most extensive empirical study of contemporary leadership in primary and secondary schools in England. The results demonstrate that heads of successful schools improve the quality of student learning and achievement through who they are – their values, virtues, dispositions and competencies – as well as their timely use of change and improvement strategies. Successful School Leadership provides a comprehensive analysis of the values and qualities of head teachers. It assesses the strategies they use and how they adapt these to their particular school context in order to ensure positive increases in the learning, well being and achievement of their students. The authors: Identify a basic set of leadership practices resulting from their findings Analyse and describe the leadership values, qualities and behaviours related to different phases in schools’ improvement journeys Provide illustrative case studies of primary and secondary schools that highlight context sensitive strategies Provide a contemporary overview of international research and thinking about successful school leadership Recognize similar and distinguishing features between schools in different socio-economic groups This book is valuable reading for…school leaders and senior teachers, educational policy makers and advisors, as well as anyone involved or interested in education and its leadership.
Education leadership has been subject to a period of turmoil with rapid social change, political demands for excellence, economic pressures for austerity and the influence of technology impacting on leadership roles in multiple ways. This book draws on real examples of practice to identify the key challenges facing educational leadership and how these might be overcome drawing on recent research and interventions that have impacted positively on learner outcomes and teacher retention. Covering all aspects of leadership including school improvement, vision and values, working with partners and leading change, the book launches the concept of atomic leadership, advocating small steps to change for maximum momentum and large-scale impact. It reveals how leaders can cooperate to trial new ways of learning and disseminate their successes and failures with a new honesty and openness about what works in our schools. With reflective tasks in every chapter, this text will inspire debate and inform discussion at staff meetings and is essential reading for all school leaders as well as those undertaking master-level courses in educational leadership and or pursuing the National Professional Qualifications in leadership.
Why do some school leadership teams succeed while others stagnate, snipe, or disintegrate? Are there key lessons that apply no matter what your school situation? "Nine Lessons of Successful School Leadership Teams" distills a decade of on-the-ground innovation and research pointing to what school leadership teams can do to focus on and increase student achievement. Case studies from schools and districts anchor the discussion of strategies that have evolved over a decade of work with more than 23,000 school leaders. Tools that have contributed to school leadership teams' successes are included.
This highly detailed study maps four decades of evolution of the concept of what constitutes effective school leadership. It analyses the theoretical background to these developments and advocates the utility of thinking of a ‘lean’ form of school leadership that is comparable to the concept of ‘meta-control’. A wide-ranging survey of the empirical research literature on leadership effects includes the presentation of results from earlier meta-analyses as well as a new meta-analysis on some 25 studies carried out between 2005 and 2010. This survey demonstrates that older reviews and meta-analyses were predominantly based on so-called ‘direct effect’ studies, while more recent studies have tried to quantify the indirect effects of leadership, mediated by other school variables. While acknowledging the relatively small total effect of leadership on student outcomes, the study does identify promising intermediary factors which, stimulated by specific leadership behaviours, impact on student performance. The book ends by drawing out wider implications for educational practice and policy, presented under headings such as ‘schools need leadership’, ‘the toolkit of the school leader as a meta-controller’, ‘the special case of turning around failing schools’ and ‘efficiency of school leadership’. In passing, the authors make several suggestions about potentially fruitful next steps in researching the effects of school leadership.
