Leadership’s Future: Leadership and Student Achievment
by Miki Saxon
How important is leadership (in its generally accepted definition) with regards to student results and where does/should it come from?
The Science Codex writes about a new study funded by The Wallace Foundation gives interesting, but not surprising, insight.
“The rubber hits the road in the classroom; that’s where the learning happens,” said Kyla Wahlstrom. “Leadership is important because it sets the conditions and the expectations in the school that there will be excellent instruction and there will be a culture of ongoing learning for the educators and for the students in the school.” …
The study demonstrates a strong, positive link between educational leaders — particularly principals — and student learning outcomes.
I’s not surprising because we all know that in the workplace most people live up—or down—to their boss’ expectations and it’s been shown that kids do, too.
If you don’t feel like reading the whole study, the Codex lists the main findings, among them
- Higher-performing schools generally ask for more input and engagement from a wider variety of stakeholders.
- In districts where levels of student learning are high, district leaders are more likely to emphasize goals and initiatives that reach beyond minimum state expectations for student performance.
- The stark lack of district support for principals’ professional development and a lack of regular contact between most principals and their district office.
Input from all stakeholders…engagement…goals…initiatives…striving for excellence…professional development. This is what works, what motivates most humans and leads to positive results.
Not surprising that it would be applicable in education, but not happening, either.
Flickr image credit: The Wallace Foundation
