Education Commons^™

Principals As Instructional Leaders: Supporting New Middle School Principals To Implement Systems Allowing For Instructional Leadership, Jason Kaiz

Dissertations

This study is a collection, interpretation, and, eventually, recommendations based on data collected through interviews with current middle school principals. The research questions examine how middle school principals can increase their effectiveness as an instructional leader within the building. The research begins by examining the factors contributing to the principal being an instructional leader and what systems can be implemented to support this goal. These systems should include the ability for principals to facilitate learning for staff, just as staff facilitate learning within their classroom. Policy implications and recommendations highlight the need to look at resources available for principals as …

Advancing Instructional Leadership: Instructional Coaching Skills Development Through Mixed Reality Experiences, Marjorie Ceballos, Krista Bixler

Journal of Educational Supervision

Educational leadership preparation programs are tasked with advancing the development of future educational leaders’ instructional capacities, including the ability to engage teachers in instructional conversations through instructional coaching. The educational leadership program studied here includes a mixed reality experience designed to develop future educational leaders’ instructional coaching conversation skills. Therefore, the purpose of this research study was to examine future educational leaders’ perceptions of the development of instructional coaching conversation skills because of participation in the mixed reality experience. Findings indicated that, overall, participants held positive views of the mixed reality experience in supporting their development of instructional coaching conversation …

Learning From Post-Observation Conferences: Emerging Measures Of And Mechanisms To Improve Principals’ Feedback To Teachers, Alyson L. Lavigne, Shanena Allen, Shiquan Shao, Jorge Americo Acosta Feliz

Journal of Educational Supervision

As principals seek to strengthen their impact on teaching and learning, it is critical to understand how principals provide feedback to teachers about their instruction and the focus of those conversations. This study examined the content and quality of principals’ (N = 4) verbal feedback to teachers (N = 11) during post-observation conferences (N = 11) and teachers’ perceptions of that feedback. In post-observation conferences, principals emphasized students’ opportunities to learn and supportive classroom environment, but rarely provided feedback on curriculum sequencing, the balance of procedural and conceptual knowledge, and teachers’ review and feedback to students. The …

Distribution Of Instructional Leadership Roles Within A School Organization, Zora Wolfe, Kim-Kathie Knudsen, Abbie Mahaffey

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Educational leaders are tasked with many managerial responsibilities as well as instructional leadership roles. However, effective instructional leadership is a critical factor in improving student achievement. The purpose of this study was to explore how instructional leadership is distributed within a school organization, specifically examining the perceptions of district, building, and teacher leaders in relation to their roles in instructional leadership and the barriers to effective instructional leadership. Qualitative interviews were conducted with district office leaders, building leaders, and instructional coaches, and their responses to the questions were reviewed, categorized, and coded using Crewell’s Data Analysis Spiral (2011).

Data from …

High School Administrators’ Perspectives Of Leadership Practices Influencing Teacher Leadership And Culture, Andrea H. Taylor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In a southeastern state in the United States, a gap in practice exists regarding the consistent implementation of instructional leadership practices to promote teacher leadership and culture in schools. The purpose of this study was to explore administrators’ perspectives of their implementation of instructional leadership practices to influence teacher leadership and culture. The conceptual framework for this qualitative approach was Bass and Avolio’s transformational leadership theory. The research question focused on high school administrators’ perceptions of the instructional leadership practices they are using to influence teacher leadership and school culture. Purposive sampling was used, and six high school administrators participated …

Administrators' Capacity For Supporting Reform-Oriented Science Instruction: An Urban School District Case Study, Venicia Ferrell, Joanna K. Garner

Center for Educational Partnerships Publications

Secondary school administrators play a vital role as instructional leaders, but little is known about their knowledge of science practices and perceptions of strategies for supporting reform-oriented science instruction. This multiphase, mixed-methods Q-Methodology study explored administrators' perceptions of instructional leadership and, in particular, high-quality science instruction. After a concourse of 40 items was developed through a review of literature and an expert panel, n = 22 administrators from one urban school district completed a Q-sort and a post-sort questionnaire in which they commented on a lesson excerpt. Principal components analysis with varimax rotation was used to assimilate the participants into …

The Facade Of Instructional Leadership – The Patterns And Priorities Of Principals In Guiding And Driving Effective Classroom Instructional Practices, Jerad Hyden

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The Façade of Instructional Leadership: The Patterns and Priorities of High School Principals in Guiding and Driving Effective Classroom Instructional Practices

Abstract

By Jerad Hyden

University of the Pacific 2023

Classroom walkthroughs are the consistent and systematic observation of instruction in the classroom, and despite research indicating classroom walkthroughs drive student achievement and promote learning, high school principals fail to implement effective classroom walkthroughs on a consistent basis, resulting in teachers not receiving enough guidance and support to improve instruction for student learners. The purpose of this study was to assist and empower high school principals as instructional leaders through …

Socioscientific Issues-Based Instruction: The Messier Side Of (Leading) Science Teaching, Savannah Graham, Mark Bloom, Sarah Quebec Fuentes, Jo Beth Jimerson

Journal of Educational Supervision

The present case centers on a socioscientific issues-based lesson taught by a preservice teacher (PST) in an AP Biology class. The PST designed and delivered a lesson on disease transmission and ways to avoid infection with connections to the COVID-19 pandemic mask mandates and vaccine reticence. The Principal received several emails from parents (positive and negative), citing the incorporation of political issues and critical race theory into the science lesson. With this framing, the case depicts how the Principal, PST, university supervisor, and cooperating teacher navigate the situation. The case highlights the role of school leader as instructional leader. In …

Advancing A Democratic Pedagogy And Supervision Framework: An Illustrative Case Of Teacher Questioning In Secondary Mathematics Instruction, Esther A. Enright, Douglas Wieczorek

Journal of Educational Supervision

This article pushes back against the evalu-centric view of improvement (Hazi, 2018; 2020) in the supervision literature by advocating for a democratic pedagogy and supervision framework developed to support instructional supervision and evaluation dialogue between teachers and leaders. This democratized approach honors and centers the teacher’s expertise and learning as well as the leader’s in the observation, debrief, and reflection process. Through this decentering of expertise in the instructional supervision cycle, our goal is to build leaders’ and teachers’ mutual capacity to develop, implement, and sustain democratic instructional supervision cultures in classrooms and schools. Additionally, we illustrate our framework through …

Principal Supervisors Coaching Practices For Developing School Principals' Instructional Leadership Capacity, Jamila M. Mannie

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Across the United States performance expectations of principal supervisors are shifting from a focus on compliance to a focus on instructional leadership development. The problem addressed in this study was that principal supervisors were applying feedback and coaching approaches inconsistently as they addressed school principals’ growth as instructional leaders. The conceptual framework was transformational leadership, through which leaders encourage, inspire, and motivate employees to innovate and create change that can help grow and shape future academic success for the students they serve. The research questions were designed to explore how principal supervisors provide feedback and coaching to develop school principals’ …

Administrators And Teachers' Perceptions Of Instructional Leadership Practices To Increase Student Achievement, Keyna Crawford Anderson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe lack of achievement in public schools has been a concern globally and has negatively affected the growth of communities and the economy. School principals have a central role in implementing effective instructional practices and creating a positive teaching and learning environment that fosters student achievement. The problem addressed was a lack of instructional leadership in a British territory. The conceptual framework for this research was the instructional leadership model of Hallinger and Murphy, which defines three main dimensions of instructional leadership: (a) defining the school's mission, (b) managing the instructional program, and (c) promoting a positive school learning climate. …

A Qualitative Case Study Of Principal Supervisors’ Perceptions Of Equity-Based Instructional Leadership, Dontae Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Principal supervisors play a critical role in supporting school principals. However, historically, principal supervisors were ill prepared to address these challenges at either the district or school level. Since 2011, the role of the principal supervisors has been reexamined to provide better outcomes for students and increased support for principals. The development of equity-based instructional leadership practices was identified and therefore added to the tools focused on developing transformative, race-conscious, and culturally responsive educational leadership. The problem explored in this qualitative study is that little research has focused on the perceptions of principal supervisors to improve equitable practices in schools …

Building Leadership Capacity In An Instructional Coach: A Principal’S Contribution To The Growth Of A Leader Through The Lens Of Complexity Leadership Theory, Lori Corley

All Dissertations

School leaders are accountable for enabling others to produce innovative outcomes within the environment in which the school operates. This complex environment of the school, defined by greater levels of uncertainty, ambiguity, interdependencies, and interrelatedness (Clarke, 2013), is a place where complex problems are best solved with complex responses (Marion and Uhl-Bien, 2011) by the instructional leaders within the system. In light of this understanding, it is important to examine how instructional leaders within the school grow as leaders through the lens of complexity leadership theory. Although existing research examines what instructional leaders need to do to be effective, there …

Towards A Theory Of Critical Consciousness: A New Direction For The Development Of Instructional And Supervisory Leaders, Shannon R. Waite

Journal of Educational Supervision

COVID-19 and the demand for racial justice caused the dark underbelly of white supremacy to be laid bare during 2020. These events call for a reexamination of the ontological and epistemological frameworks in academe and specifically within the field of educational leadership. The legacy of white supremacist ideology prevails as the existing and accepted ontological and epistemological perspectives of history offered in PreK-12 through post-secondary education. The political, economic, and social context highlights the need for instructional and supervisory leaders to be culturally responsive school leaders. This requires that programs preparing these leaders must grapple with and problematize the existing …

The Intersection Of School-Based Leadership Practices And School Grades In The State Of Florida, Wendelynn A. Mcpherson

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of this non-experimental, quantitative study was to examine to what degree 12 self-reported leadership behaviors were associated with and predictive of school grades in the state of Florida. The study participant sample was exclusively comprised of educational leaders from elementary schools located in Florida. In this descriptive study, elementary principals were surveyed to determine the frequency of leadership behaviors (independent variable) and school grades (dependent variable). Two research questions and hypotheses were posed to address the study’s research problem. Research question one utilized a simple linear regression to assess the predictive variable of the overall leadership practices for …

The Need For More Educational Leadership Pedagogical Knowledge In Early Elementary, Megan Hallissey

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

This exploratory, qualitative multiple-site case study examined how principals’ knowledge of early childhood learning, pedagogy, and practices (or lack of) influences their leadership decisions and assessment of teachers. Data collection included four different elementary school configurations and consisted of multiple data sources including the use of a video simulation. The twelve guidelines of Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) and the Professional Standards of Educational Leaders (PSEL) provided a framework for thematic analysis. The results of this study show principals have a limited understanding of early childhood pedagogy which influences their hiring decisions when filling teacher vacancies. Additionally, results indicate principals’ assessments …

A Qualitative Study Exploring State School Leaders' Work With Teachers In Argentina, Eliana Belén Camargo

Theses - ALL

Principals' influence on teachers' practices is the second factor, after classroom instruction, that most impact student learning and success. In Argentina state schools serve 70% of the students, therefore, state school leaders play a key role in the K-12 education of the country. The present study explored the experiences of six Argentinian state school administrators (principals and assistant principals) about their role in working with teachers. This qualitative study examined the following question: How do Argentinian state school administrators experience their role in working with and leading teachers? A qualitative, phenomenological research approach and two of the most prominent educational …

A Qualitative Study Exploring State School Leaders' Work With Teachers In Argentina, Eliana Belén Camargo

Theses - ALL

Principals’ influence on teachers’ practices is the second factor, after classroom instruction, that most impact student learning and success. In Argentina state schools serve 70% of the students, therefore, state school leaders play a key role in the K-12 education of the country. The present study explored the experiences of six Argentinian state school administrators (principals and assistant principals) about their role in working with teachers. This qualitative study examined the following question: How do Argentinian state school administrators experience their role in working with and leading teachers? A qualitative, phenomenological research approach and two of the most prominent educational …

Supervision And Teacher Wellness: An Essential Component For Improving Classroom Practice, Carl Glickman, Rebecca West Burns

Journal of Educational Supervision

Teaching has always been a stressful profession, but the additions of high-stakes accountability coupled with a global pandemic have increased stress to unprecedented levels. Thus, supervision must attend to teacher wellness to improve instructional practice. This article offers practical suggestions educational leaders can implement in their supervision to support teachers’ emotional well-being. Those strategies include being humble, giving statements of affirmation and practice, using data to drive inquiry, focusing on strengths, offering concrete suggestions, thinking aloud, re-energizing teachers intellectually, leveraging community resources, and developing teacher leaders. More information about these strategies and other practical ways to support teacher learning can …

Chasing Down The Educational Debt By Centering Race In Educational Supervision, Teresa Lance

Journal of Educational Supervision

Educational professional development is ubiquitous; yet the gains on student learning are minimal as measured by local, state, and federal assessment measures. Although there is widespread agreement that assessment data alone does not tell the story of what students are learning and teachers are teaching, the data is still alarming. Why is there a gap between the billions of dollars spent on professional learning and student learning outcomes? In this article, the author seeks to shed light on this disconnect, offering a framework that links deficit perspectives of Black, Brown, and Indigenous students and opportunity gaps associated with inept monitoring …

High School Principals' Perceptions And Instructional Leadership Practices Regarding Algebra I State Scores, Tangia Ann Miller

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

States are double scheduling algebra classes; using calculators and virtual manipulative-like algebra tiles; and applying interventions such as Response to Interventions, needs assessments, and various computer graphing technology such as Demos. However, during the school year 2018-2019, 12.9 percent of a state public school students failed to meet passing score requirements on the state algebra test and were at risk of not graduating. The purpose of this research was to examine school principal perceptions and instructional leadership practices supporting mathematics teachers to help students to improve their proficiency in Algebra I. A basic qualitative research design, grounded in instructional leadership …

K-12 Principals, Instructional Leadership, And Equitable Gifted Program Placements For Students, Rochelle Marie Archelus

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

School leaders struggle to implement best instructional leadership practices to enhance student diversity in gifted programs. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand how K-12 school principals implement instructional leadership practices regarding equitable placements of students in gifted programs. Three elements of Hallinger and Murphy’s instructional leadership model, (a) developing and promoting expectations, (b) assessing and monitoring student performance, and (c) supervising and evaluating instruction, informed this study. The research questions addressed instructional leadership practices and behaviors of K-12 school principals regarding placements of students in gifted programs. Ten K-12 school principals who worked in a large …

Principals’ And Teachers’ Perceptions Of Content-Specific Instructional Feedback, Shernore S. Prince

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The research problem for this basic qualitative study was that principals were not consistently providing content-specific feedback to support teachers’ instructional practices. This problem was important because principals, as instructional leaders, are responsible for giving feedback to teachers to support teachers’ instructional practices. The purpose of this study was to investigate principals’ and teachers’ perceptions of content-specific feedback. Danielson’s framework for teaching was the conceptual framework that linked the concepts and variables in this study. The research questions addressed how principals perceived that they provided content-specific feedback to support teachers’ instructional practice, and how teachers perceived principals as providing content-specific …

Shaping The Supervision Narrative: Innovating Teaching And Leading To Improve Stem Instruction, Bill Sterrett, Ginger Rhodes, Dennis Kubasko, Angelia Reid-Griffin, Kerry Kathleen Robinson, Steven D. Hooker, Andrew J. Ryder

Journal of Educational Supervision

This paper offers a model of supervisory collaboration that brings teacher and administrator programs together through a lens of formative evaluation. The roles of teacher and principal must be collaborative to sustain student success, yet the preparation models for those respective positions are often isolated from each other, as varying university departments and focus areas exist in silos. Preparation programs must maximize the clinical experiences of teacher education and administrator preparation programs, with a focus on practical teaching strategies and authentic feedback to pre-service educators and their instructors for reflection and change. This paper overviews a collaborative supervision model and …

Principals’ Schema: Leadership Philosophies And Instructional Leadership, Sarah J. Zuckerman, Cailen O'Shea

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

The Every Child Succeeds Act of 2015 signaled a shift toward the recognition of the importance of school leadership, reflecting a growing body of literature that demonstrates principals are second only to classroom instruction in supporting student success. This influence is the greatest when principals focus on teaching and learning, or instructional leadership. The ability to focus on instructional leadership requires knowledge, as well as the schema that creates mental models for instructional leadership tasks. This study draws on interviews with principals to examine the relationship between their theory of leadership, which are conceptualized as leadership schema, and their instructional …

Role Enactment And Types Of Feedback: The Influence Of Leadership Content Knowledge On Instructional Leadership Efforts, Sarah Quebec Fuentes, Jo Beth Jimerson

Journal of Educational Supervision

Instructional leadership is a primary task of school leaders, but this work may be complicated when leaders and teachers do not share content area or grade level expertise. Work around leadership content knowledge (LCK) acknowledges that school leaders cannot know everything about teaching in the content areas, but suggests leaders can work to bridge this divide. Still, little is known about how leaders’ LCK intersects with their efforts to support improvements in teaching and learning. The purpose of this study was to explore ways in which LCK facilitates or, in its absence, hinders instructional leadership efforts. Thirty-one teachers and school …

Discipline-Culture And Instructional Practices: An Integrated Leader's Role, Joe L. Griffin

Dissertations

The goal of this study was to identify the extent to which integrated leadership is present in schools, according to secondary teachers. Second, the study sought to measure the discipline-culture of schools. Discipline-culture is defined as the way discipline is administered daily in a school and how it contributes to the instructional practices that teacher’s use. Finally, integrated leadership, coined by Marks and Printy (2003), was examined relative to discipline-culture and instructional practices with this study. Leadership has been studied in multiple countries across various grade levels, but integrated leadership's influence on discipline-culture and instructional practices has not been researched. …

Principal Transformational Leadership And School Climate In Title 1 Schools, Heidi H. Miller

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Students living in poverty who attend Title 1 schools continue to underperform academically compared to their more-advantaged peers. Researchers have shown that leadership and school climate influence academic outcomes for students, and educators and community members need to understand effective leadership and school climate practices used where students have demonstrated academic growth. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to gain an understanding of principals’ perspectives on their leadership and school climate practices that may contribute to students’ academic growth in Title 1 elementary schools. The conceptual framework encompassed elements of transformational leadership and constructs of school climate. Interviews …

Elementary School Principals’ Instructional Leadership Practices Supporting Academically Marginalized Students, Stacy Lynette Parker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The research problem addressed in this qualitative case study is the need to understand elementary school principals' instructional leadership practices supporting academically marginalized students. Instructional leadership practices to "close the achievement gap" are imperative to document, so that best practices can be highlighted and disseminated among educational institutions that face similar challenges. The conceptual framework of the principal instructional management theory is used to explore instructional leadership through 3 dimensions: managing the instructional program, defining the school mission, and fostering academic achievement. Semistructured interviews and thematic analysis were conducted to collect and analyze data from 11 elementary principals in response …

Principals’ Perceptions Of Administrative Preparedness For Implementation Of Project-Based Learning, Johane St Aime

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In a school district located in the southeastern part of the United States, the local problem was that principals were concerned about their knowledge and training to effectively implement project-based learning (PBL). The purpose of this study was to explore the principals’ perceptions about PBL and the implementation, training, and resources needed to improve the instructional leadership of PBL. Daresh and Playko’s proactive leadership theory served as the conceptual framework that guided this study. The research questions focused on principal perceptions about PBL, about implementing PBL, and about necessary training and resources to improve principal training of PBL. A basic …