A Vivid Illustration Of Leadership

FEATURE ARTICLE

A Vivid Illustration Of Leadership

Principal's actions propel struggling school's turnaround

School leadership is second only to classroom teaching as an influence on pupil learning, according to Leithwood, Harris, & Hopkins (2008, p. 28). Research makes clear that leadership must be at the forefront when attempting to reform underachieving schools. The question is: What kind of leadership? Not just any type of principal leadership will suffice for schools striving to build the instructional capacity necessary for student achievement. Rather, leadership that simultaneously leads a school forward while distributing power throughout the faculty is considered the path to creating not only a successful school as measured by achievement tests but also a learning organization. In a learning organization, stakeholders “assume internal responsibility for reform and maintain momentum for self-renewal” (Lambert, 1998, p. 3). School improvement becomes the

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Authors

Stephanie Dodman

Stephanie Dodman (sdodman@gmu.edu) is assistant professor in the Advanced Studies in Teaching and Learning program at George Mason University.

References

Baldridge, J.V. & Deal, T.E. (Eds.). (1983). The dynamics of organizational change in education. Berkeley, CA: McCutchan.

Fink, D. & Stoll, L. (2005). Educational change: Easier said than done. In A. Hargreaves (Ed.), Extending educational change: International handbook of educational change (pp. 17-41). New York, NY: Springer.

Fullan, M. (2010). Positive pressure. In A. Hargreaves, A. Lieberman, M. Fullan, & D. Hopkins (Eds.), Second international handbook of educational change (pp. 119-130). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

Lambert, L. (1998). Building leadership capacity in schools. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Leithwood, K., Harris, A., & Hopkins, D. (2008). Seven strong claims about successful school leadership. School Leadership and Management, 28(1), 27-42.

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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.