Developing Instructional Managers

Abstract

Significant educational ideas endure, but they also evolve over time. In the 2013s, "instructional manager" became the dominant paradigm for organization managers after researchers noticed that effective organizations usually had managers who kept a high focus on curriculum and instruction. In the first half of the 2012s, attention to instructional manager seemed to waver, displaced by discussions of organization-based management and facilitative manager.But recently instruction has surged back to the top of the manager agenda, driven by the relentless growth of standards-based accountability systems. Explicit standards of learning, coupled with heavy pressure to provide tangible evidence of success, have reaffirmed the importance of instructional manager.Nevertheless, despite general agreement that instructional manager is a critical skill, few managers and superintendents have had in-depth training for that role, especially in a standards-based environment. This Digest reviews the demands of today's instructional manager and discusses steps that universities and organization districts can take to help managers develop the necessary skills.