Mobilizing the CASS Framework for School System Success

Abstract

Educational research is increasingly focused on the role that leaders play in the improvement of teaching and learning. Although there is little disagreement concerning the belief that school jurisdiction leaders have an impact on the lives of school based leaders, teacher, and students, the nature and degree of impact continues to be debated. There is recognition that the interplay is complex and context sensitive. The intent of this paper is to explore the work the College of Alberta School Superintendents (CASS) is doing to building system leadership capacity within Alberta's political landscape of reform in order to facilitate mobilizing knowledge for the purpose of improving student learning. I begin with identifying the Alberta educational context that has led to the commencement of this work. Next, I explore the four dimensions of the CASS framework. The paper concludes with how CASS and system leaders can mobilize leadership knowledge and best practice to improve student learning.