Leading for Instructional Improvement Educational experts agree that quality teaching is the single most important factor in improving educational outcomes for all students. Teaching is a highly sophisticated and complex endeavor requiring deep expertise on the part of teachers and school leaders. This book shows how teacher, school, and district leaders can cultivate the expertise of teachers to deliver high quality instruction for all students. Leading for Instructional Improvement captures the nationally acclaimed work conducted by the Center for Educational Leadership at the University of Washington in its effort to improve the quality of teaching and leadership in schools across the country. The book provides extensive practical guidance grounded in theory and research, along with powerful stories and examples from classrooms, schools, and districts. Many of the tools, protocols, and frameworks contained in this book can be accessed electronically by visiting the Center for Educational Leadership website at www.k-12leadership.org. Praise for Leading for Instructional Improvement "This book offers insights that are invaluable to educators who seek to enhance teacher effectiveness now. The ideas presented are practical and applicable to schools in a variety of settings." PEDRO A. NOGUERA, Ph.D., Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Development and executive director, Metropolitan Center for Urban Education "A deep and thoughtful look at how the issue of expertise is cultivated. Seizing upon their Center's research-based instructional framework, the authors provide important insights and tools." DR. BEVERLY HALL, superintendent, Atlanta Public Schools "In this age of intense focus on how we evaluate teachers, we have to remember that any evaluation is only as good as the evaluator. This extremely useful book provides an excellent roadmap for how principals can become more effective in the most important aspect of their work, instructional leadership." JERRY D. WEAST, Ed.D., superintendent of schools, Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland "Fink and Markholt offer practitioners a guide to effective teaching. Leading for Instructional Improvement asks us to heed the lessons within and support the kind of teacher education that will improve student achievement for today's schools and those of tomorrow." BARNETT BERRY, president, Center for Teaching Quality

Leading for Instructional Improvement Educational experts agree that quality teaching is the single most important factor in improving educational outcomes for all students. Teaching is a highly sophisticated and complex endeavor requiring deep expertise on the part of teachers and school leaders. This book shows how teacher, school, and district leaders can cultivate the expertise of teachers to deliver high quality instruction for all students. Leading for Instructional Improvement captures the nationally acclaimed work conducted by the Center for Educational Leadership at the University of Washington in its effort to improve the quality of teaching and leadership in schools across the country. The book provides extensive practical guidance grounded in theory and research, along with powerful stories and examples from classrooms, schools, and districts. Many of the tools, protocols, and frameworks contained in this book can be accessed electronically by visiting the Center for Educational Leadership website at www.k-12leadership.org. Praise for Leading for Instructional Improvement "This book offers insights that are invaluable to educators who seek to enhance teacher effectiveness now. The ideas presented are practical and applicable to schools in a variety of settings." PEDRO A. NOGUERA, Ph.D., Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Development and executive director, Metropolitan Center for Urban Education "A deep and thoughtful look at how the issue of expertise is cultivated. Seizing upon their Center's research-based instructional framework, the authors provide important insights and tools." DR. BEVERLY HALL, superintendent, Atlanta Public Schools "In this age of intense focus on how we evaluate teachers, we have to remember that any evaluation is only as good as the evaluator. This extremely useful book provides an excellent roadmap for how principals can become more effective in the most important aspect of their work, instructional leadership." JERRY D. WEAST, Ed.D., superintendent of schools, Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland "Fink and Markholt offer practitioners a guide to effective teaching. Leading for Instructional Improvement asks us to heed the lessons within and support the kind of teacher education that will improve student achievement for today's schools and those of tomorrow." BARNETT BERRY, president, Center for Teaching Quality

Supporting teacher learning is a complicated and challenging task. This much-awaited book offers a practical, research-based framework for thinking about instructional leadership, along with the necessary resources and tools for improving practice. The authors identify specific structures, formats, and strategies that an instructional leader can use to support new and veteran principals and teacher leaders. They then discuss ways to think about which structures are most appropriate for particular settings, offering suggestions on the most effective way to work with these structures. This unique book combines theory with best practices to create a vision of how 21st-century instructional leaders can improve education for all students. This practical book: Describes a unique, adult learning framework.Includes a variety of tools and protocols that leaders can use to support teacher learning in schools, districts, departments, and teams.Offers instructional leaders both theory and practice-the what to do and also the why and how.Addresses a broad spectrum of instructional leaders at the district, school, and university level. “Students everywhere deserve teachers and administrators who have read this book, and who enact the ideas in it. It is a must read for principals, district level administrators, teacher leaders, instructional coaches and mentors - anyone charged with leading the learning of adults in their schools.” —Gene Thompson-Grove, Educational Consultant and Board Member, SchoolReform Initiative “Leading for Powerful Learning is the book every school leader needs. It provides the essential tools for carrying out what is arguably the school leader's most difficult task: supporting the learning of the teachers with whom they work. The authors’ insights and practical wisdom, drawn from their decades of experience in schools, will be useful not only to formal school leaders but to those serving as leaders in more informal ways.” —Tina Blythe, Harvard Graduate School of Education

In an educational context where school and district performance is of increasing focus, it’s essential for leaders at all levels of the educational system to focus on improving student performance. This volume zeros in on a promising set of strategies and practices for all leaders to motivate, support, and sustain learning in contemporary schools. Learning-Focused Leadership in Action explores what it means for educational leadership to be "learning-focused," what this looks like in practice at both the school and district level, and how such leadership changes can be set in motion. Drawing on extensive case study research in schools and districts that are making progress on learning improvement, this volume explores how leaders at all levels of the educational system can productively seek to improve the quality of learning opportunities and student performance, no matter how challenging the circumstances.

Enhance learning with a collaborative, inquiry-based system of leadership! This practical guide presents a systematic, ongoing process for collecting information, making decisions, and taking action in order to improve instruction and raise student achievement. The authors illustrate a collaborative inquiry-action cycle within a real-world context 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

Support teachers with more effective instructional leadership Leading for Professional Learning offers field-tested guidance to help school leaders more effectively support teachers’ professional development. Leadership is crucial to professional learning, providing the necessary systems and structures that enable teachers to improve their own practice and in turn, improve student learning. With an illustrative case study, this book provides invaluable guidance, packed with practical tools, processes, and expert advice. Because each school differs in terms of strengths and needs, this book steers away from prescriptivism and shows you how to construct a support plan tailored to your unique context. Specific teaching and leadership frameworks guide you through the process of examination, discovery, and execution, equipping you with the necessary tools and insight you need to make positive changes for your teachers – and ultimately, your students. A must-read resource for principals, administrators, and other school and district leadership, this book helps you set your school on the path to continuous improvement. Determine your school’s professional learning needs Leverage existing support structures for the greatest effect Understand the role of leadership in sponsoring and following up on professional learning Ensure intentional changes in teacher practice and student learning Empowering teachers to improve their craft goes beyond merely offering opportunity; it requires collaboration with teachers every step of the way, a deep understanding of how best to support professional learning, a clear set of goals for both individual sessions and an overarching mission, and the necessary technical and relational support required to see these opportunities through. Written by experts from the University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership, Leading for Professional Learning provides real-world advice that has been proven effective in school districts across the nation.

Overcome uncertainty and concerns as you and your colleagues learn how to analyze and use data to get better at teaching students.

Our fourth book in the International Research on School Leadership series focuses on school leadership in an era of high stakes accountability. Fueled by sweeping federal education accountability reforms, such as the United States’ No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Race to the Top (R2T) and Australia’s Performance Measurement and Reporting Taskforce, school systems around the world are being forced to increase academic standards, participate in high-stakes testing, and raise evaluation standards for teachers and principals. These results-driven reforms are intended to hold educators “accountable for student learning and accountable to the public” (Anderson, 2005, p. 2, emphasis in original). While policymakers and the public debate the merits of student achievement accountability measures, P-12 educational leaders do not have the luxury to wait for clear guidance and resources to improve their schools and operating systems. Instead, successful leaders must balance the need to create learning communities, manage the organizational climate, and encourage community involvement with the consequences testing has on teacher morale and public scrutiny. The chapters in this volume clearly indicate that as school leaders attend to these potentially competing forces, this affects their problem-solving strategies, ability to facilitate change, and encourage community involvement. We were delighted with the responses from colleagues around the world who were eager to share their research dealing with how leaders are functioning effectively within a high-accountability environment. The nine chapters in this volume provide empirical evidence of the strategies school leaders use to cope with problems and negotiate external demands while improving student performance. In particular, the voices and actions of principals, superintendents, and school board members are captured in a blend of quantitative and qualitative studies. The breadth of studies is impressive, ranging from case studies of individual principals to cross-district comparisons to national data from the National Center for Education Statistics. To highlight important findings, we have organized the book into five sections. The first section (Chapters 2, 3, and 4) highlights the problem-solving strategies used by principals and superintendents when pressured to turn around low-performing schools. In the second section (Chapters 5 and 6), attention is devoted to ways in which school leaders act as “buffers” by reducing the impact of external demands within their local school contexts. Next, Chapters 7 and 8 explore creative ways in which financial analyses can be used to assess the cost effectiveness of programs and services. Chapters 9 and 10 examine how principals enact their instructional leadership roles in managing curriculum reforms and evaluating teachers. Finally, in the last section (Chapter 11), Kenneth Leithwood synthesizes the major themes and ideas emerging across these chapters, paying particular attention to practical issues influencing school leaders in this era of school reform and accountability as well as promising areas for future research.

Updated Edition of Best Seller! "You won′t find a more practical, detailed guide to improving school effectiveness than is contained between the covers of this book!" Leonard O. Pellicer, Dean School of Education University of La Verne La Verne, CA "Few books on school leadership have effectively brought together the best of educational theory and practice for school administrators as Elaine McEwan′s Seven Steps to Instructional Leadership." Michael Pladus 1999 MetLife/NASSP National Principal of the Year Have the courage and the vision to lead your staff to achieve their highest instructional goals! Make a substantive impact on the lives of your students and your staff. This practical, hands-on guide can help you become a more effective instructional leader. Here are research-based activities to help you lead your staff though McEwans′s seven steps: Establish, implement, and achieve academic standards Be an instructional resource for your staff Create a learning-oriented school culture and climate Communicate your school′s vision and mission to staff and students Set high expectations for your staff and yourself Develop teacher leaders Develop and maintain positive relationships with students, staff, and parents Integrate these seven steps into your daily behavior. Chapters on each step include research data, discussion and advice from instructional leaders, and practical suggestions from dozens of leading principals that you can use right now in your own school. Use the Instructional Leadership Checklist to: Assess your current level of instructional leadership Find out how your staff thinks you′re doing Set goals for improving your instructional leadership practice Evaluate your progress toward your goals Attaining a new and higher level of instructional leadership will make a difference for each person in your school. Staff, students, and parents will get the message that all students matter. Everyone will start expecting that all students can learn, and your school will achieve its mission—improving education.

Leading Learning and Teaching is a thorough, comprehensive sourcebook on school improvement and best-practice leadership, including extensive references, case studies and evidence to back up arguments.