Leadership Development

Leadership development

Schools and districts seeking high performance need strong leaders

By Cheryl Gray and Quentin Bishop

January 2009

Karen Waldrop is on her way to a graduate class offered for teacher leaders by a local university in partnership with her school district. As she leaves her school, she exchanges greetings with her principal, who is just returning from a half-day of mentoring training. They briefly discuss the group of aspiring leaders who are getting ready to begin a full-time, semester-long principal internship. Her principal encourages Waldrop to think about joining the next cohort of the district’s principal preparation program once she completes her teacher leadership endorsement. He mentions the incentives for becoming a principal of one of the low-performing schools, a job for which he knew she would excel. As Waldrop pulls away from the school, her professional home for more than 20

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References

Fry, B., Bottoms, G., & O’Neill, K. (2005). The principal internship: How can we get it right? Atlanta, GA: Southern Regional Education Board.

Goldring, E., Porter, A.C., Murphy, J., Elliott, S.N., & Cravens, X. (2007, March). Assessing learning-centered leadership: Connections to research, professional standards, and current practice. New York: The Wallace Foundation.

Gray, C., Fry, B., Bottoms, G., & O’Neill, K. (2007). Good principals aren’t born — they’re mentored: Are we investing enough to get the school leaders we need? Atlanta, GA: Southern Regional Education Board.

Harris, A. & Muijs, D. (2003). Teacher leadership: A review of the research. Nottingham, United Kingdom: National College for School Leadership.

Leithwood, K., Louis, K.S., Anderson, S., & Wahlstrom, K. (2004). How leadership influences student learning. New York: The Wallace Foundation.

McCauley, C.D. & Van Velsor, E. (Eds.) (2004). The Center for Creative Leadership handbook of leadership development (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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