What Principals and District Leaders are Learning About Instructional Leadership

1. What Principals and District Leaders are Learning About Instructional Leadership Anthony A. Byrd, Ed.D. Assistant Superintendent Teaching and Learning Division Edmonds School District Presentation at WERA December 4, 2008

2. Context Washington district 20,000 students 24 elementary schools 71.1% white, 13.9% Asian; 7.7% Latino; 5.8% African-American; 1.5% American-Indian 27% free and reduced lunch Leaders with a wide range of experience

3. Research Questions What are principals and district leaders learning about instructional leadership in the context of a district reform effort? What district practices support or inhibit principals� learning about instructional leadership? How can this study inform district administrators regarding principals� professional learning?

4. The Problem of Practice Districts will not close achievement gaps until classroom instruction improves Schools must have exceptional instructional leaders who understand change District leaders must understand how to support principals within these contexts

5. The Literature Instructional leadership District professional development for principals Dynamics of change within educational organizations

6. Defining Instructional Leadership Creation of vision (Leithwood and Riehl, 2003) Understand powerful instruction (Stein and Nelson, 2003) Support professional development to meet the instructional goals Provide opportunities for reflection (Schon, in Blas� and Blas�, 1999) Provide quality feedback to teachers (Blas� and Blas�, 1999)

7. Why district leadership matters �We join a growing number of researchers and analysts who conclude that, for better or worse, districts matter fundamentally to what goes on in schools and classrooms and that without effective district engagement, school-by-school reform efforts are bound to disappoint.� - McLaughlin and Talbert, 2003, p. 5

8. The Role of District Leaders Clear focus on instruction (Resnick and Glennan, 2002) Understand the instruction they want to see (Resnick and Glennan, 2002) Strong learning community at district level (McLaughlin and Talbert, 2003) Understand what schools need (Burch and Spillane, 2003)

9. How districts can be supportive Routine and centralized learning opportunities for principals (Elmore and Burney, 1997) Provide opportunities for collaboration (CFGs, intervisitations, walkthroughs) (Wagner, Kegan, et al., 2006) On-site principal coaching (Fink and Resnick, 2001)

10. Why this is all so hard �If familiarity breeds contempt, unfamiliarity breeds rejection. No one warmly seeks, let alone embraces, significant intellectual and personal change.� - Sarason, 1996, p. xii Change often affects a person�s sense of worth of competence, because change may imply something is wrong with the current state (Bolman and Deal, 2003; Evans, 1996)

11. What makes change possible The political will (Tyack and Cuban, 1995) Creating a sense of urgency (Kotter, 2002) Significant interruption of the current state of affairs (Sarason, 1990, 1996) Trust and relationships (Bryk and Schneider, 2002; Barth, 2001) Vision (Kotter, 2002) A clear theory of improvement (Elmore, 2004) Involvement of those affected (Sarason, 1996) Learning in context (Elmore, 2004)

12. The research context District concerned about student performance in literacy Build teacher capacity to teach effective literacy practices Build principal capacity to lead the work Focus on the workshop structure If teacher leaders and principals understand specific content, and principals learn how to integrate that content at the site level, effective practices will root themselves in classrooms and student learning will improve.

13. The Collaborative Literacy Project Principals and teachers learning side-by-side in content sessions led by PEBC Cross-classroom/cross-building observations Instructional coaches Principal leadership sessions (some)

14. Methodology Action research Qualitative case study approach Searching for a �thick description� (Merriam, 1998) Nine district staff and one consultant Purposeful sampling/maximum variation (Merriam, 1998) Four schools

15. Data Collection/Analysis Interviews Observations Document and artifact study Within/cross-case analyses (Merriam, 1998) Member checks (Mills, 2005)

16. Findings The importance of assessment The positive impact of content-loading and teacher observations The importance of central office leadership The power of context

17. The Importance of Assessment Disconnect between vision and action plan Lack of clarity about instructional needs of principals Varying definitions of instructional leadership Limited knowledge about principals� effectiveness at instructional leadership

18. The positive impact of content-loading and teacher observations �The content loading sessions have really helped. I have more craft knowledge now to provide the professional development we need.� - principal �It is always nice to go out and do the site observations, as it provides a visual of what the instruction should look like.� - principal

19. The Importance of Central Office Leadership Vision- �It would be great if we had one set way we were headed as a system. That way all of this work would tie together.� - principal Central office leadership- �I would love to have my assistant superintendent sit down with me every couple of weeks and say, okay, let�s start planning some professional development.� - principal Support structures for principals- �Principals need more time to talk about how to lead the work in their buildings. They need more time to hear from other principals.� - principal

20. The Power of Context �The principals are all over the place, just like in the classroom. We have a handful of principals who are really working to try to do the work and some, for whatever reason, are not.� - district leader �Every school is so different. Every principal is so different in what they know and what they feel comfortable with and what they admit they want to know.� - literacy coach

21. A reflection �Fundamental changes in patterns of incentives occur not by engaging in ambitious, discontinuous reforms, but rather by pushing hard in a few strategic places in the system of relations surrounding the problem and carefully observing the results.� � Elmore, 2004, p. 29

22. Implications Understand what is needed in the first place (Bolman and Deal, 2003) Central office leaders might spend more time in buildings with principals- learning context Create a definition instructional leadership Create a instructional leadership self-assessment tool Have a strong district vision around instruction

23. Limitations of this study Short data collection timeline Mixed levels of contact with principals I worked in this district- bias Small sample size

24. Questions for further study What would a prolonged study of the research questions I put forth for this project indicate about the work of instructional leadership? Would a larger, survey-based study of all principals give a broader picture? What would an outside expert see? What would a deeper look at just one aspect of this study reveal?

25. A final thought Generally, districts spend more time with the bureaucratic management of the system that with the �instructional core.� (Elmore, 2002) �Direct involvement in instruction is among the least frequent activities performed by administrators of any kind at any level, and those who do engage in instructional leadership activities on a consistent basis are a relatively small proportion of the total administrative force.� (Elmore, 2004, p. 17)