School Leadership Teams Research Articles

Creative leadership? ‘It’s just the norm’

ABSTRACTCreativity in teaching and leadership continues to be a topic of interest in education. This article focuses on comments made by a school’s leadership team as part of a larger study in which a mixed methods case study design involving the school’s leadership team and staff who taught Arts (either as specialist teachers or generalist classroom teachers) was used. The research took place in a 6-year-old Preparatory Year to Year 9 (P-9) school in a growth corridor in metropolitan Melbourne. Staff members in the school provided responses to a questionnaire, participated in focus group discussions and were invited to maintain journals during the course of the study. Comments made by members of the school’s leadership team are analysed in this article using perspectives of pedagogical leadership and relational power. The article finds that the school's leadership team models and encourages experimentation with new ideas across the school as the team promotes the development of collaborative professional learning approaches in their relatively young school. The article concludes that professional learning communities (PLCs) within the school will be well-placed to pursue the collaborative approaches modelled by the school’s leadership team to ensure that a school-wide focus on student learning continues.

Effects of a data use intervention on educators’ use of knowledge and skills

Data use is increasingly considered to be important for school improvement. One promising strategy for implementing data use in schools is the data team intervention. Data teams consist of teachers and members of the school leadership team, who collaboratively analyze and use data to solve an education-related problem at the school. This mixed-methods study aims at measuring the effects of working in a data team on the application of data use in ten secondary schools by using questionnaires and case study interviews. The results show that at the end of the intervention period, educators on the data teams did not apply data use more often for accountability actions, but seemed to be more aware of data use for school development and instruction. Furthermore, it seemed that the teachers made a start at applying data use for instructional actions.

Implementing your plan

Members of the school leadership team are often challenged to implement whole-school strategies. Josie Gallagher outlines the four key principles that will help your implementation plan to succeed

A POLÍTICA PÚBLICA DE FORMAÇÃO DE PROFESSORES NO TRABALHO DOCENTE DO PROFESSOR INICIANTE DE EDUCAÇÃO FÍSICA

Este estudo busca compreender a relação entre a política pública de formação de professores vigente e o trabalho docente do professor iniciante de Educação Física. Trata-se de uma etnografia crítica realizada em três escolas, com três professores iniciantes de Educação Física, cujos principais instrumentos utilizados foram: observação participante, diálogos, entrevista e análise documental. Identificamos que a política pública de formação de professores visa melhorar o ensino na Educação Básica e que essa meta não tem sido concretizada, uma vez que as relações estabelecidas com outros professores, direção e entornos da profissão são mais significativas e não têm contribuído para a manutenção da resiliência e rigorosidade metódica.

Teachers’ Self-Efficacy vs. Parental Involvement: Prediction and Implementation

This research examines the influence of teachers’ views regarding parental involvement on their perception of self-efficacy. Data were collected from a sample of 319 Israeli elementary schools teachers. A path analysis procedure was employed to test the mediating effect of personal background and organizational variables and perceived parental involvement on teachers’ perception of self-efficacy. Results indicated that the most influential factor for predicting the organizational component of teachers’ perceived self-efficacy was being part of the school leadership team, while the most influential factor for predicting the pedagogical component of teachers’ perceived self-efficacy was teachers’ view of parental involvement in resources.

Barriers and Enablers for Implementing Music in Australian Schools: The Perspective of Four Principals

Aims: To explore and identify the barriers and enablers of music provision in Australian schools, as seen through the eyes of four Melbourne - based school principals, to inform policymakers and other school leadership teams. Study Design: The study used an exploratory design. Place and Duration of Study: Interviews were undertaken across multiple school sites in the greater - Melbourne area between June 2011 and April 2013 as part of a study conducted through the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music at The University of Melbourne. Methodology: Four school principals were interviewed from diverse schools across the greater Melbourne area, including primary, secondary, government, independent, mainstream, and special education schools. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and analys ed using a combined inductive deductive approach to identify the barriers and enablers to music provision in schools reported by

Transforming the core business of teaching and learning in classrooms through ICT

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become an integral part of societies across the globe. This study demonstrates how successful technology integration by 10 experienced teachers in an Australian high school was dependent on teacher-driven change and innovation that influenced the core business of teaching and learning. The teachers were subject specialists across a range of disciplines, engaging their Year Eight students (aged 12–14 years) in the Technology Rich Classrooms programme. Two classrooms were renovated to accommodate the newly acquired computer hardware. The first classroom adopted a one-to-one desktop model with all the computers with Internet access arranged in a front-facing pattern. The second classroom had computers arranged in small groups. The students also used Blackboard to access learning materials after school hours. Qualitative data were gathered from teachers mainly through structured and unstructured interviews and a range of other approaches to ascertain their perceptions of the new initiative. This investigation showed that ICT was impacting positively on the core business of teaching and learning. Through the support of the school leadership team, the built environment was enabling teachers to use ICT. This influenced their pedagogical approaches and the types of learning activities they designed and implemented. As a consequence, teachers felt that students were motivated and benefited through this experience.

Developing leadership identity through critical reflection: voice, knowledge and advocacy

This article describes the leadership identity development of an American Latina teacher as she moves from the domain of her classroom outward to lead her grade level team, school leadership team and school district personnel. The leadership master’s degree programme is grounded in transformative learning theory, emphasizes social justice and equity, and employs systematic critical reflection. Through structured critical reflections over two years, Cecilia examines her own experiences as a student and teacher, interprets her individual educational journey in the context of broader societal patterns, and documents her development as a school leader. This case illustrates the power of critical reflection to integrate personal, cultural and professional experiences and promote leadership identity development of one woman of colour.

Effective Leadership Conducive to Generation of Academic Performance in Schools

The purpose of this paper was to understand and compare two schools in relation to how effective leadership functions (instructional and transformational leadership) may have been utilized to arrive at differential academic outputs in schools. Towards this end, an exceptionally performing and under-performing school was chosen from within the same socio-economic context with a view to understand how instructional and transformational leadership could result in generating optimal academic performance. These selected schools are government owned and thus, receive similar treatment in terms of funding, control, commitment, management and control, etc. Therefore a major research question: How do selected leadership functions bring about generation of differential student’s exceptional academic performance in schools? Utilizing the qualitative research approach, data was collected from internal key role players (otherwise referred to School Leadership Team [SLT]) from two selected schools: one exceptional performing and the other, underperforming. Participants in the study are; Principals, Vice-principals and Heads of Department (HODs) from the two schools. I utilised one-on-one semi-structured interview, observations and document review to obtain rich data towards providing answers to the puzzle of the study. Findings among others indicate that monitoring, modelling, and internally funded training and development of teachers, ensured effective instructional delivery and up-date of knowledge in the teaching skills; and subject knowledge update of teachers in the exceptionally performing school, which impacted on student’s performance in the exceptionally performing school, compared to the exceptionally underperforming school. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p1868

Post‐fabrication and putting on a show: examining the impact of short notice inspections

This paper explores inspection, performativity and fabrication within the context of two English schools. Case studies are employed to compare and contrast the inspection experiences of two teachers at different points in their career trajectories. The paper focuses on comments made by Sir Michael Wilshaw, the head of the Office for Standards in Education (OfSTED), that schools were ‘putting on a show’ during inspections. Empirical evidence is presented which suggests that the key informants invested emotional, physical and intellectual capital into the perpetual readiness incumbent in high‐stakes inspection process—an investment which was anything other than putting on a show. The paper proposes that, in the cases in point, the changing nature of school inspections led to ‘post‐fabrication’, that is, inspection readiness was omnipresent to such an extent that it was not a fabricated version of events. The findings presented here have implications for teachers, school leadership teams, policy makers and all those interested in inspection.

School Finance and Learning: Are We Leveraging State Aid to Get All We Can Out of It?

After spending some twenty-five years working on schoolfinancefortheNewYorkStateEducationDepartment,Ihadtheopportunitytoworkoneducationreform for the State of Nevada. As Deputy Superintendent for Business and Support Services, I oversaw state aid to school districts, information technology, audit services, and child nutrition. I also served as Education Department liaison to the 77th session of the Nevada Legislature. Although my sojourn in Nevada, lasting little more than a year, was brief compared with my work in New York, the experience gave me perspective on how two states were implementing school finance and reform. Recent reforms in both states were driven in large part by the federal Race to the Top competition, but the approaches to reform were quite different. Key features of the education environment in Nevada—basic student services and a strong inclination against raising taxes—worked to keep school spending low, the sixth lowestschoolspendinginthenationat$8,419perpupil. New York State, in contrast, is a large-enrollment, highspending, and high-taxing state. Consequently, spending per pupil on education is among the highest in the nation, at $16,239 per pupil. 1 In 2011, the state reached the breaking point, however, and enacted laws to limit growth into the future for education revenues raised from the property tax and distributed as state aid to school districts.

Using lesson study as an approach to developing teachers as researchers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on how an academy used lesson study to engage teachers in research, presenting the journey undertaken from its conception through to the implementation of the model. It suggests that lesson study is a suitable process to engage teachers in meaningful research. It shows that lesson study allows teachers to focus on their own practice and on the learning of their students and it is ideal in bridging the gap between research and practice. It will also show that research is enhanced through lesson study because it brings teachers together to work in a collaborative way. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports the intended and actual journey an academy took in planning and implementing lesson study across the academy. Findings – The paper provides an explanation on how a school can set up a model which engages its teachers in relevant research. It explains how lesson study can be used as a powerful research tool which helps teachers develop collaboration and investigative minds around their own practice and their own students. It also puts forward recommendations for a school that would seek to introduce lesson study to its staff. Originality/value – The paper provides an account for school leadership teams and those with responsibility for developing the practice of other teachers. It will be helpful in assisting schools who desire to strengthen or develop the time devoted to teachers’ professional development.

Establishing and maintaining high-performing leadership teams: a primary perspective

This article reports on the findings from a study into high-performing leadership teams in English primary schools. The schools, in the sample, received ‘outstanding’ Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) grades overall, and for leadership and management, in their most recent school inspection. The evidence suggests that developing a successful primary school leadership team takes time, commitment and continuity. The development of leaders requires a deliberate approach to build individual capacity and team unity. Effective team working takes time to develop and that ‘quick fix’ solutions to inadequate team work are inappropriate.

Protecting your school buildings from the winter weather

The recent cold snap might well have damaged some of your school buildings. Dominic Collis looks at how school leadership teams can prepare for the worst.

Why leadership matters: empowering teachers to implement formative assessment

PurposeThe focus of this research is to understand the role of the district superintendent, the building principal, and the school leadership team of classroom teachers as catalysts for innovation in instruction and classroom assessment. School characteristics and structures designed to specifically support professional learning communities are to be analyzed, and the responsibility teachers take for student learning using formative assessment is evaluated.Design/methodology/approachThe setting for the study is a small, Midwestern high school in the USA. The high school has a staff of 38 teachers, 15 of whom are on the Formative Assessment Building Leadership Team. The high school principal and district superintendent also participated in the study. The study took the form of a qualitative case study. The data sources were transcripts and artifacts from eight months of interviews, and building‐wide teacher meetings. Professional development inservices were also analyzed.FindingsThe principal served as a catalyst for building teacher knowledge and implementation of formative assessment practices. The success of the change initiative hinged on relationships between teachers and school leaders. Teachers used assessment in the service of student learning.Research limitations/implicationsBecause this is a case study, the findings themselves are not designed to be generalizable to other contexts.Practical implicationsUnderstanding the role school leadership will play in the implementation of a new State‐wide policy initiative for curriculum improvement is critical to uncovering the capacity required for formative assessment to be successfully implemented on a large scale.Social implicationsThere has been research in the field of educational measurement in the past few years on the use of formative assessments to raise standards of achievement and to lead to higher quality learning. This is an analysis of the complex dynamic between school leaders and teachers in the service of implementing assessment for learning.Originality/valueThe implementation of formative assessment on a large scale is a concern not only in the State in this research study, but in schools around the country. An exploration of the leadership capacity needed to originate and sustain this school improvement initiative is novel to the field.

Role of Board of Governors and Parent Teacher Associations in District Public Schools in the Context of Conflicts and Challenges

Sharing governance in schools to facilitate and support the schools at grass root level yielded Board of Governors (BOGs) and parent teacher association (PTAs). At present it has become a recognized phenomenon. In one or the other way parents constitute part of the school governance structure. Their involvement and active support in teaching and learning is critical to sustained educational quality. The main focus of the study is on conflicts and challenges associated with the role of Board of Governors (BOG) and Parent Teacher Association (PTA).This study is survey design comprising of heads (30), chairs of BOGs (30) and PTAs (30), and was conducted in the thirty Districts of Punjab, Pakistan to investigate the role of BOGs and PTA in the teaching and learning process. A questionnaire was served on heads and chairs of BOG and PTA in thirty purposively sampled mixed schools. The questionnaire format consisted of closed, open-ended and rating scale items. While BOGs and PTAs were considered part of the school leadership team, they perceived their roles differently and operated in an environment characterized by contradictions, challenges, tensions and conflicts, which were attributed to role overlap and lack of clear guidelines resulting in roles overlap. The study also identifies lack of training and, appropriate induction programme and induction pack as challenges that impede the roles of the BOGs and PTAs. Also a majority of the BOGs and PTAs lacked confidence in their roles.

Letter from the Editorial Board

Letter from the Editorial Board Jennifer Job, Managing Editor As we publish the second issue of our 95th volume, Occupy Wall Street protests have inspired people in over 1500 cities around the world to take to the street. The protesters feel that their voices are being ignored in a corporation-run market, and they are looking to their governments for relief. Currently, the Occupy Wall Street protests are in their second month with no signs of abating. America's schoolshadtheir own"Occupy" moment when Senator Rand Paul (Klein, 2011) stood up against the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary EducationAct (ESEA).OnOctober 19th, the ESEA, most widely known for its implementation of No Child Left Behind, was due to move easily through committee and onto the Senate floor. However, Sen. Paul used a rare procedural rule to put a halt to the meeting. He argued that there had been no hearings on the bill, and he wanted to hear from teachers and school superintendents before he was asked to make the decision to reauthorize ESEA. "I have yet to meet a teacher who is in favor of No Child Left Behind," Education Week quoted him as saying (10/19/11). The hearings Sen. Paul called for, which began November 8th, included several teachers, principals, and one superintendent as witnesses. These occurrences may be signaling an opening in public debate over education that may finally invite educators. After nearly a decade of the academy bemoaning the corporatization of education, perhaps the pendulum is ready to swing back to listening to public voices more than corporate ones. If we as researchers are to play a role in our communities, it is more important than ever that the academy do good work and that we make that work accessible to those in schools, where ever-shrinking budget conditions are demanding new ideas and approaches. And, more than ever, we need to listen to the voices of teachers and students in our efforts to create better schools. This issue highlights three studies that are working to those ends. The first, "Promising Homework Practices: Teachers' Perspectives on Making HomeworkWork for Newcomer Immigrant Students," by Hee Jin Bang, investigates how teachers of English Language Learners can re-envision the purpose of homework in order to better serve students. "Systems Thinking Tools for Improving Evidence-Based Practice: A Cross-Case Analysis of Two High School Leadership Teams," by Lisa Kensler, Ellen Reames, John Murray, and Lynne Patrick, examines how dialogue and evidence-based practice can improve school climate. And finally, "A Preliminary Examination of Academic Disidentification, Racial Identity, and Academic Achievement among African American Adolescents," by Kevin Cokley, Shannon McClain, Martinique Jones, and Samoan Johnson, looks at the role academic disidentification plays in the academic success of African American students. These three articles also share another commonality—they recognize successes going on in schools across the country. Educators are doing great things in American schools—our challenge now is to expand those pockets of excellence to meet the needs of all students. Jennifer Job, Managing Editor jgjob@email.unc.edu Reference Klein, A. (2011). ESEA markup paused due to Sen. Paul procedural objection. Education Week Blogs. Retrieved from: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2011/10/esea_markup_paused_due_to_sen.html. [End Page 1] Google Scholar Copyright © 2011 The University of North Carolina Press

Systems Thinking Tools for Improving Evidence-based Practice: A Cross-Case Analysis of Two High School Leadership Teams

Teachers and administrators have access to large volumes of data but research suggests that they lack the skills to use data effectively for continuous school improvement. This study involved a cross-case analysis of two high school leadership teams' early stages of evidence-based practice development; differing forms of external support were present in each school. The conceptual framework guiding the study integrates literature related to communities of practice, effective professional development, evidence-based practice, systems thinking, and dialogue. Findings suggest the value of data rooms, professional development focused on individual data interpretation skills, collective dialogue skills, and systems thinking skills for developing a community of evidence-based practice.

The secondary-school ‘market’ and young people's health: Qualitative case-study research in seven English secondary-schools

BackgroundSecondary schools are increasingly subject to quasi-markets in the UK, Europe and North America, typified by: diversity of school types; parents choosing where to apply; and government publishing school performance...

Teachers’ professional involvement in creating a general learning environment in Estonian schools

Comprehensive and vocational schools and kindergartens in Estonia have been obliged to introduce quality management principles since September 2006. This study was designed to explore teachers’ own opinions to identify how they were involved in improvements in Estonian schools according to the criteria set down in the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) excellence model. The teachers claimed that they had limited involvement in school strategic planning activities, budgeting and personnel development. The study stressed that Estonian teachers appreciated student academic achievements highly. The school leadership team should develop an activity plan to engage teachers in school improvement activities.