Education Commons^™

Comparing Rural And Non-Rural Principal’S Instructional Leadership In The Age Of Essa, Cailen M. O'Shea Dr., Sarah J. Zuckerman Dr.

The Rural Educator

This qualitative study compares the instructional leadership practices of rural and non-rural principals, seeking to understand contextually based differences in how principals create a focus on teaching and learning. Principals across settings report similarities in instructional leadership tasks; however, they reported significant contextual differences in how they are carried out. These include the use of formal distributed leadership in non-rural schools and informal distributed leadership in rural schools. Additionally, rural principals report adaptive practices that shape policy implementation in ways that support people-centered leadership. We conclude with areas for additional research: the unique demands of the role of principal-superintendent; how …