Instructional
Leadership
Nancy Sharpe Strawbridge GSU/EPEL 7410
Instructional Leadership
EPEL 7410
Introductions
Overview of syllabus
Course content
Are schools
special places?
Changing our thinking from
organization to moral community . . .
(Sergiovanni)
Moral communities are based in covenants—”planted in the heart
rather than written in stone.”
"I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.”
Jeremiah 31:33
Why do we even need to talk about
instructional leadership?
Course Content
Overview of instructional
leadership, supervision, and
evaluation
Adult learning; professional
learning; nurturing teacher
leadership
Formal and informal
observation and evaluation;
the walk-through
Confronting marginal
teaching
Mentoring, coaching, and
What is
instructional leadership?
“The principal of a successful
school is not the instructional
leader, but the coordinator of
teachers as instructional
leaders.”
School Leaders as
Instructional Leaders—Questions to
Consider . . .
What does effective instruction
(instruction that causes learning) look like? (UBD, backward design, facets of understanding)
How do you know effective
instruction is taking place?
How do curriculum, instruction, and
Expanding views of instructional
leadership . . .
1) Individuals other than principals
engage in instructional leadership. Who? How?
2) Instructional leadership can (and
should) extend beyond direct intervention in the classroom. How?
Direct Instructional Leadership
Staff Development
Plan for professional learning
Assess professional learning needs
and plan for a year of ongoing activities
Provide training for support staff on
Teacher Evaluation and Supervision
What is the difference between
evaluation and supervision?
Setting clear goals and objectives
for instruction
What about the walk-through?
Work with the belief that all
teachers can teach well
Conferencing with teachers
Indirect Instructional Leadership
Resource Acquisition and Building
Maintenance
Adequate resources for teaching
Prioritize needs to support
instruction
Maintain physical facilities
What other “resources” to teachers
Instructional Facilitation
Establish instruction as a priority in
terms of activities and time
Support teachers who are
innovative
Support risk-taking and possible
failure
Demonstrate the belief that all
Student Problem Resolution
Assist teachers in discipline
matters
Enforce attendance laws
Interact directly with students and
parents who are having difficulty in school
Behavior Patterns of
Instructional Leaders
They provide a sense of vision to
their school.
They engage in participative
management.
They provide support for instruction. They monitor instruction.
According to your text (Zepeda p.1). . .
“perhaps the most important work a supervisor does—regardless of title or position—is to work with teachers in ways
that promote lifelong learning skills: inquiry, reflection, collaboration, and a
dedication to professional growth and development.”
What about standards?
Content standards—National Council
of Teachers of Mathematics
Grade level standards—National
Middle School Association
State department standards—exist in
many areas (Kentucky has standards for beginning and experienced
teachers)
National standards—National Board
Certification for Teachers
Accountability and
High Stakes Testing
Should teachers be evaluated on the
success of their students?
Shouldn’t high stakes accountability
apply to students and adults?
Should states be able to determine their
Supervision v. Evaluation
Supervision is formative—ideally
leading to improved teaching. This
is where professional learning should be generated.
Evaluation is summative—leading
School Culture &
Work Environment
From effective schools to school
improvement—why culture matters . . .
1960s and 1970s
The Coleman Report
Jencks’ findings about inequality
Ron Edmonds “all schools could be effective” (Glickman, p.33)
1980s
Continuing emphasis on effective schools Emerging emphasis on SBM, leadership,
collegiality, professional learning, etc.
Beginnings of school choice & charter
1990s
Murphy asserts that we must move
beyond narrow definitions of school effectiveness to broad principles:
All students can learn.
Focus on student outcomes (data-driven instruction)
Assume responsibility for student learning—stop blame
School communities should be
According to Murphy and Datnow in
Leadership Lessons from Comprehensive School Reforms . . .
. . . successful principals build “dense leadership organizations.” More
commonly thought of as
“distributed leadership,” this
Effective Schools to
Improving Schools
(Glickman, p. 37) Varied sources of leadership
Consideration of individual school context and
culture
Parental involvement Shared vision
External and internal support Focus on teaching and learning
Does school culture matter in
improving schools? Where does it
come from?
Beliefs and values about students,
learning and leading shape our
personal vision and our vision for our work.
Questions for reflection (adapted from
Zepeda, p. 17):
What do I stand for? What are my
core beliefs about teaching and learning and school?
What is good teaching? What make
an excellent teacher?
What kind of support do teachers
need to become excellent?
How do supervision, evaluation and
Principals in Healthy Cultures
(from Zepeda, Figure 1.9 p.19)
Are visible
Communicate well and often
Are always role models
Are passionate about their work
Accept responsibility for the
school’s culture
Are positive
Take pride in the school’s
physical environment
Empower others appropriately
Demonstrate stewardship—
Principals in Unhealthy Cultures (cont.)
Communicate little and are not
visible.
View themselves as “the boss.” Are poorly organized.
Feel that others are responsible for
the physical plant.
Make excuses—place blame on
Glickman, et.al. reference a “paradigm shift” in supervisory practices marked by:
Relationships between supervisors and
teachers are collegial not hierarchical
Supervision is practiced by all—teachers
and administrators
Focus is on teacher growth not
compliance with minimum competency
Teacher collaboration is facilitated
Teachers are involved in ongoing
Supervision involves mastery of:
Knowledge
Interpersonal skills
Technical skills
Darling-Hammond, et. al., view supervision as PREPARING TEACHERS FOR A
CHANGING WORLD . . .
Teaching as a Profession Learning in a Democracy
A Vision of Professional Practice
Knowledge of learners and their
development
Bridging the gap between supervision
and evaluation
(from Zepeda, pp. 32-33) Emphasize the function of teacher
evaluation in finding and recognizing good teaching
Include the teacher in the process
Use more than one person to evaluate Use multiple sources of data to inform
judgments about teacher quality— including student achievement data
Use evaluation results to support teacher
growth and promotion
Differentiated Supervision. . .
What do teachers want?
(Zepeda,p.34-38)
What should teachers be
doing?
What does differentiated
Supervisory Styles
(Zepeda, Figure 2.2, p.37)
Directive control approach
Directive informational approach
Collaborative approach
What approach will
you use with
Next class . . .
Adults as learners,
Professional Learning, and
