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This case study examined the instructional leadership of principals as co-participants in professional learning with teachers in a rural school district in eastern North Carolina. Teacher and principal interviews were the basis of understanding if the design of a professional learning initiative influenced principals towards facilitation and co-participation with teachers during Project Chief Education Officer (CEO). The implementation of the Sheltered Instructional Observation Protocol (SIOP) in this small district was the basis for two years of intensive professional learning for teachers and principals as a method for improving the teaching of academic language throughout the district. Qualitative data for the case study was collected using structured interviews to examine the primary research question of "How did participation in Project Chief Education Officer (CEO) to implement the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) influence teacher perceptions of professional learning and the instructional leadership behaviors of principals" in the following contexts: (1) the teaching of academic language; (2) facilitation and participation in professional learning; (3) teacher and principal perceptions of instructional leadership. The case study also examined participant responses in the context of: (1) historical perspectives; (2) perceptions of current reality; (3) reflections regarding instructional leadership behaviors. Findings revealed that the personal and professional narratives of teachers reflected the influence of principal instructional leadership behaviors as facilitators and co-participants on instructional practices and teacher perceptions of instructional effectiveness. Teacher narratives revealed that the instructional leadership behaviors of visible presence, resource provider and observing or monitoring provided the basis for positive teacher perceptions about the instructional leadership of principals and its influence on their engagement in professional learning and teacher instructional behaviors.
More than 50% of America's schools today exist in rural settings. This book addresses the distinctiveness of rural school leaders, identifies issues encountered by administrators, faculty, and students, and concludes by proposing new standards for rural schools in general and their leaders. This book will be of special interest to everyone involved in the operation of a rural school district.
"This essential guide for educational leaders skillfully blends scholarship with practice and integrates theory with real-world examples. Through case studies, the authors show the reader how to develop, support, and improve a collaborative, inquiry-action process for improving teaching and learning. If we are going to have schools that successfully educate all students to high standards, then we need principals who translate the lessons of this book into practice." —Andrew Lachman, Executive Director Connecticut Center for School Change Enhance learning with a collaborative, inquiry-based system of leadership! With sociopolitical forces prompting calls for school improvement, school leaders look for ways to expand their expertise in instructional leadership and strengthen their role in shaping classroom practice. Leading With Inquiry and Action presents a systematic, ongoing process for collecting information, making decisions, and taking action to improve instruction and raise student achievement. The authors illustrate this collaborative inquiry-action cycle with a running vignette of an experienced principal and offer questions and exercises to guide individual reflection and group discussion. Thoroughly grounded in research, this book helps administrators: Identify areas for instructional improvement Determine community-supported solutions and build stakeholder commitment Articulate an action plan based on multiple data sources Take steps that support teacher development Systematically evaluate program results Educational improvement requires informed leadership. This practical guide provides an efficient and functional framework for transforming current or aspiring principals into inquiry-minded, action-oriented instructional leaders.
Developing Rural School Leaders combines a focus on rural education and school leadership development to illustrate how the teaching and learning conditions in rural schools can be enhanced through transformative leadership coaching. By unpacking literature related to rural school leadership development and using case studies to authentically illustrate the complexities involved in rural school leadership development, this book explores how leaders can develop their abilities to increase data-informed instructional decision making, create a culture that supports teaching and learning, and develop other leaders. Ultimately, this important book concludes with an exploration of the opportunities and challenges of developing rural school leaders.
Rural Turnaround Leadership Development: The Power of Partnerships focuses on a three- year rural turnaround leadership project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. The project was designed to foster the development of a cohort of aspiring school leaders in rural high poverty/low performing K-12 school districts. The Alabama Project was selected by the U.S. Department of Education, in part, because it was the only submission which emphasized partnership between higher education institutions, school districts and the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE). Facets of the book include a treatment of the structures and processes each university created to develop their unique program, the distinctive turnaround curriculum used at each university, the role of mentoring in developing aspiring rural school leaders and the internship experiences and practices which supported aspiring leader development. One of the most powerful changes witnessed during the project was the development of aspiring leaders by the major and ancillary partners. The cross-connections between K-12 districts, the ALSDE, and the three university educational leadership programs was a multifaceted and multi-layered collaborative approach. The partnerships not only strengthened within each master’s program, but across agencies as a result of this project. The book will describe the value of partnership and leadership development through the eyes of the major contributors. The contributors or authors of the book will include the Alabama State Department of Education, the three educational leadership higher education institutions i.e. Auburn University, University of Alabama and Samford University, partner school district representatives and graduates of the program.
This volume focuses on innovative school-university-community collaborations that are being implemented in rural places in the United States. A foundational belief that underpins the contributions to this volume is that rural communities contain within themselves the resources to promote and sustain vibrant educational endeavors. This belief has inspired a wealth of innovations that collectively offer a countervailing perspective to the view that global competitiveness is the preeminent goal of education, and that this goal is best served by “big education.” Since early last century, there has been a pervasive implicit, and sometimes explicit, assumption that rural places are bereft of the ability to educate children effectively. As repeatedly witnessed in this volume, in collaboration with universities, schools in rural places and the communities that both sustain and rely on them can appropriately configure the educational environment to optimally nurture the intellectual growth of children. The chapters in this volume are grouped into three parts that explore, in turn, the design features of innovative school-universitycommunity collaborations, some novel approaches to such collaborations, and the contours of parental and community involvement in such collaborations. Chapters discuss both larger scale collaborations that involve many school districts across wide -spread regions, and smaller scale collaborations that involve intensive engagements among the educators and members of smaller communities, and offer theoretical insights into the collaborative process itself. As mentioned above, two narrative threads run through the chapters: that effective collaborations address goals and aspirations expressed by those who are privileged to live in rural America, and that effective collaborations are oriented to building on the strengths inherent in the social fabric of those rural communities.
The role of the rural education leader is complex and demanding, but the rewards of serving in a rural school district are innumerable. Learn how to work through challenges and maximize success in this often overlooked and underresourced field. In the United States, the umbrella term "rural education" applies to diverse place-based contexts ranging from remote mountain communities to midwestern agricultural areas to southwestern mesas and beyond. One thing these varied environments have in common is the need for creative, solutions-oriented leadership. In The Resilient Rural Educator, award-winning superintendent Melissa A. Sadorf draws on her extensive experience teaching and leading in a rural school district in Arizona to identify issues unique to rural education and explore ways to capitalize on local resources to provide the best possible education for all students. Topics Sadorf investigates in depth include the following: • Juggling multiple district roles while maintaining efficiency and effectiveness • Recruiting and retaining staff, teachers, and administrators in a rural area • Connecting students and families with needed services and resources • Solving the challenges of limited access to utilities such as broadband internet • Navigating the role of the rural school as the hub of the community • Managing community partnerships for mutually beneficial results Rural school districts serve approximately one in five students across the United States—students who deserve an equitable education. The insightful, innovative, and comprehensive strategies found in this book will help you and your district deliver that education to them.
Using 10 ready-made lessons, this book equips school leaders with a professional development curriculum to train teachers in areas of educational law that affect their everyday work.
School Principals is a timely and important book that fills in a gap in the knowledge base about the principalship. In highly readable form, the writers of this book address such questions as: Who are principals? What do they do? How do they think? What are their working conditions? How are they prepared? Those in educational leadership programs who aspire to be principals will find this information invaluable. Principals who read this will have a better understanding of their everyday work. Educational leadership researchers and policy makers will have a better idea of the population who must respond to the new demands of the principalship.