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    Leadership

    Support and structures make the difference for educators and students

    By Learning Forward
    Categories: Standards for Professional Learning
    August 2011
    Vol. 32 No. 4
     “Everyone has a stake in the education of our children … [and] people who work in schools and people who study schools know that leadership makes a difference” (Wahlstrom, Louis, Leithwood, & Anderson, 2010, p. 32).  The critical role that leadership plays in student learning is documented in a six-year research study funded by The Wallace Foundation that examined the effect of leadership on learning (see Louis et al., 2010). From that research, professional development emerges as a primary vehicle for authentic and sustainable school improvement. The voices in interviews of nearly 900 teachers, principals, and district staff in 167 schools across the U.S. tell the story of the actions that effective school leaders take to develop and support the context and processes leading to increased

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    Authors

    Kyla L. Wahlstrom and Jennifer York-Barr

    Kyla L. Wahlstrom (wahls001@umn.edu ) is director of University of Minnesota’s Center for Applied Research and Education Improvement. Jennifer York-Barr (yorkx001@umn.edu) is professor in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota. 

    References

    Bandura, A. (1982, February). Self-efficacy and mechanism in human agency. American Psychologist, 37(2), 122-147.

    Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.

    Leithwood, K. & Riehl, C. (2005). What we know about successful school leadership. In W. Firestone & C. Riehl (Eds.), A new agenda: Directions for research on educational leadership (pp. 22-47). New York: Teachers College Press.

    Louis, K.S. (2006, September). Changing the culture of schools: Professional community, organizational learning, and trust. Journal of School Leadership, 16(5), 477-489.

    Louis, K.S., Leithwood, K., Wahlstrom, K., Anderson, S., Michlin, M., Mascall, B., et al. (2010). Learning from leadership: Investigating the links to improved student learning. Final report of research. St. Paul, MN: Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, University of Minnesota & Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at The University of Toronto.

    Spillane, J.P. (2006). Distributed leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Wahlstrom, K., Louis, K.S., Leithwood, K., & Anderson, S. (2010). Learning from leadership: Investigating the links to improved student learning. Executive summary of research findings. St. Paul, MN: Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, University of Minnesota & Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at The University of Toronto. 

    York-Barr, J. & Duke, K. (2004, Fall). What do we know about teacher leadership? Findings from two decades of scholarship. Review of Educational Research, 74(3), 255-316. 

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    Learning Forward is the only professional association devoted exclusively to those who work in educator professional development. We help our members plan, implement, and measure high-quality professional learning so they can achieve success with their systems, schools, and students.

    Categories: Standards for Professional Learning

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