Learning Forward
Equity and excellence in teaching and learning.
IDEAS
Instructional leadership at the forefront
By Suzanne Bouffard
Categories: Career pathways, Change management, Continuous improvement, Implementation, Leadership, Learning systems/planning, School leadership, System leadershipOctober 2019
Vol. 40, No. 5
Des Moines (Iowa) Public Schools is one of six urban districts participating in an effort to redesign the role of principal supervisors. The Wallace Foundation’s Principal Supervisor Initiative provides four years of support for these districts to transform the role, which has traditionally focused on operations and compliance, into one that supports principals to be instructional leaders. Des Moines’ experience illustrates how the initiative is changing leadership structures and roles, as indicated in an implementation report of the initiative (Goldring et al., 2018). It also shows how professional learning at all leadership levels is essential for improvement. Learn how @WallaceFdn’s Principal Supervisor Initiative has changed @DMschools leadership structures and roles in this #LearnFwdTLP Q&A. Share on X Des Moines associate superintendent Matt Smith, principal supervisor
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About the initiative
The Principal Supervisor Initiative includes five core components:
- Revise the principal supervisors’ job description to focus on instructional leadership;
- Reduce principal supervisors’ span of control (the number of principals they oversee), and change how supervisors are assigned to principals;
- Train supervisors and develop their capacity to support principals;
- Develop systems to identify and train new supervisors (succession planning); and
- Strengthen central office structures to support and sustain changes in the principal supervisor’s role.
“Principals tend to feel very isolated, but now with a principal supervisor who has been in the game and is responsible for the principals’ success, they feel they can be vulnerable so they can learn and grow.”
— Ruth Wright
References
Goldring, E.B., Grissom, J.A., Rubin, M., Rogers, L.K., Neel, M., & Clark, M.A. (2018). A new role emerges for principal supervisors: Evidence from six districts in the Principal Supervisor Initiative. New York, NY: The Wallace Foundation.
Suzanne Bouffard is senior vice president of communications and publications at Learning Forward. She is the editor of The Learning Professional, Learning Forward’s flagship publication. She also contributes to the Learning Forward blog and webinars. With a background in child development, she has a passion for making research and best practices accessible to educators, policymakers, and families. She has written for many national publications including The New York Times and the Atlantic, and previously worked as a writer and researcher at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Duke University and a B.A. from Wesleyan University. She loves working with authors to help them develop their ideas and voices for publication.
Categories: Career pathways, Change management, Continuous improvement, Implementation, Leadership, Learning systems/planning, School leadership, System leadership
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