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State of the states

The search for ways to improve instructional leadership zeroes in on 6 policy areas

By Catherine Augustine
April 2010
The recognition of the importance of effective school leadership is not limited to district-level leaders and academic researchers. State educational leaders have increasingly taken up improving school leadership as part of a general shift toward greater involvement in school reform efforts. The power of states in education matters has grown since the time of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), when states were required to assume responsibility for ensuring equity for students. Since that time, federal and state roles in education have changed and increased. The reform movements of the 1980s and 1990s brought more state involvement, as did increases in states’ share of education funding. By 2000, the emerging connection between strong instructional leaders and school improvement was making its way into state education

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Authors

Catherine Augustine and Jennifer Russell

Catherine Augustine (cataug@rand.org) is a behavioral scientist at RAND.

Jennifer Lin Russell (jrussel@pitt.edu) is an assistant professor in the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh.

References

Augustine, C.H., Gonzalez, G., Ikemoto, G.S., Russell, J., Zellman, G.L., Constant, L., et al. (2009). Improving school leadership: The promise of cohesive leadership systems. Santa Monica, CA: RAND. Commissioned by TheWallace Foundation. Available online at www.wallacefoundation.org/ KnowledgeCenter/KnowledgeTopics/CurrentAreasofFocus/Ed ucationLeadership/Pages/Improving-School-Leadership- The-Promise-of-Cohesive-Leadership-Systems.aspx.

Council of Chief State School Offices. (1996). Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium: Standards for school leaders. Washington, DC: Author. Available online at www.ccsso.org/ content/pdfs/isllcstd.pdf.

Council of Chief State School Officers. (2008). Educational leadership policy standards: ISLLC 2008. Washington, DC: Author. Available online at www.ccsso.org/ projects/isllc2008research/documents/ISLLC 2008 final.pdf.

Crews, A.C. &Weakley S. (1996). Making leadership happen: The SREB model for leadership development. Atlanta, GA: Southern Regional Education Board. Available online at http://bit.ly/bDej4k.

Hoyle, J.R., English, F.W., & Steffy, B.E. (1998). Skills for successful 21st-century school leaders: Standards for peak performers. Arlington, VA: American Association of School Administrators. Available online at http://bit.ly/dbKQO3.

Murphy, M., Martin, M., & Muth, R. (1997). Partnerships for preparing school leaders: Possibilities and practicalities, in R. Muth & M. Martin, (Eds.), Toward the year 2000: Leadership and quality schools. The sixth yearbook of the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (pp. 238-246). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

Usdan, M., McCloud, B., & Podmostko, M. (2000, October). Leadership for student learning: Reinventing the principalship. Washington, DC: Institute for Educational Leadership.

Catherine Augustine
Director and Sr. Policy Researcher at RAND Corporation | + posts

Catherine Augustine is director of the RAND Pittsburgh Office and a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, with 20 years of experience conducting education research.

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