The introductory volume in the Peabody Educational Leadership Series, Successful School Leadesrhip, provides readers with a solid overview of the primary topics that current and aspiring leaders will be faced with when making decisions regarding education organizations. Blending leadership theory and practice, this foundational leadership text provides cutting edge content in each of the key domains of responsibility facing current and aspiring school leaders while weaving case studies, current media articles, and reflection points into each chapter to enhance student synthesis and application.
The book is divided into four frames of reference for optimal learning: Planning, Politics, Performance, and Power — the functions with which educational leaders must continually grapple. In each section, readers are presented with information about what school leaders need to know to successfully surmount the modern challenges to education and instruction.
Section one provides a foundation for the book by discussing the evolving context of educational leadership and proposes a strategic orientation to leading educational organizations through continual cycles of appraisal, analysis and action. Section two delves into the important issues of governance, politics, finance and law as major contributors to the context of education, and as levers by which school leaders can shape institutions. Section three explores the various ways in which school leaders can assess and enhance the performance of their schools and educational organizations. The final section of text provides students with information about educational leader strategies in the development of people, partnering with communities, and uses of power, while the final two chapters give practical insights into the preparation for practicing strategic education leadership.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ELCC MATRIX
SECTION I: PLANNING FOR CHANGE Understanding Strategic Leadership
CHAPTER ONE — The Evolving Context of Education Leadership
Looking Back: A Historical Note
Leadership’s Contemporary Societal Context: Illustrating Unceasing Change
Evolving Contextual Details
Strategic Leadership: What It is and Why It is Now Needed
What A Strategic Leader is Not
CHAPTER TWO - Strategic Leadership in an Organizational Context
Theoretical Views of Organizations and Their Import for a Strategic Leader
Leadership Theories and Styles
The Idea of Strategic Leadership
Educational Leadership in a Changing Societal and Organizational Paradigm
Combining Appraisal and Action
CHAPTER THREE — Strategic Planning
Planning Operational Details
What is Strategic Planning?
The Impact of Politics on Goal Setting and Strategic Planning
Key Considerations in the Planning Process
SECTION II: POLITICS
Policy Knowledge Needed by Strategic Leaders
CHAPTER FOUR - Governance
The Seemingly Seamless Spectrum of Schooling Stakeholders
The Scale and Scope of United States Schooling
Constitutional Underpinnings of Education’s Complexity and Diversity
Informal Centralization
The Structure of States for Governing Education
General Government and Education
CHAPTER FIVE: Politics, Policy and Policy Issues
Illustrating How Policy Matters for Education Leaders
Explaining the Formation of Policy
Policy, Public Policy, Education Policy, and a Policy System Paradigm
Cultures of Policy
Inside the “Modern” Education Reform Policy Paradigm
CHAPTER SIX: Finance
Providing Strategic Leaders with the Finance Knowledge They Need
A Historical Sketch of the United States Education Finance Context
Education Finance Magnitude
Generating and Distributing State and Federal Education Revenues
Allocating Resources Productively Within an Education Organization
What is Wrong with This (Financial) Picture?
The Likely Future Context of Education Finance
CHAPTER SEVEN: Law
Conventions, Constitutions, Cases, Courtrooms, and Classrooms
Protecting (and Sometimes Restricting) Students’ Rights
Protecting (and Sometimes Restricting) Employee Rights
SECTION III: PERFORMANCE What a Strategic Leader Needs to Know Regarding Knowing
CHAPTER EIGHT: Learning
The Importance of Instructional Time
The Significance of Specifying What is to be Learned
Instructional Program Alignment
Learning Theories
Dimensions of Knowledge
The Implication of Learning Theory for Learning Environments
What Do We Expect Students to Be Able to Do with What They Learn?
How Can Students Be Motivated to Learn?
What is the Role of the Teacher in the Learning Process?
Cultural Diversity and Instructional Environments
CHAPTER NINE: Programs
Forces Influencing School Programs in the United States
Perspectives on Assessing the Quality and Alignment of State Standards
Approaches to Enhancing School Programs
The Intersection of K-12 Programs and Post-Secondary Education
CHAPTER TEN: Performance
Assessing the Performance of Students
Assessment of Leadership Performance
Assessing School Performance
Value-Added Performance Measures
Performance-Based Compensation Systems
National and International Assessments of Education Performance
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Problem Solving
Strategic Approaches to Decision Making in Education
Systematic Collection and Use of School Data
Analyzing Data Integral to School Effectiveness
Analyzing Data Integral to School Efficiency
SECTION IV: POWER
The Application of Strategic Leadership
CHAPTER TWELVE: Power
Decision Making and Implementation
Important Definitions and Distinctions
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: People
People and School Success
Profiling America’s Educators
Compensating America’s Educators
Compensation Reform Possibilities
Selecting Teachers, Administrators, and Others
Professional Development
Assessing Teacher Performances
Motivating Personnel Productively
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Partnering Schools with Parents and Communities
Theoretical and Empirical Research Considerations
Strategically Linking Family and Community to Student Performance
Collecting Data on Community Involvement
Developing Strategic Community Partnerships
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Practicing Strategic Leadership
Shaping One’s Leadership Style
Constructing Professional Philosophies
Setting Performance Priorities
Communicating Purposes, Creating Impressions, Confronting Conflict
Leader Ethics and Consistent Behavior
The Unsung Significance of Predictable Leader Behavior
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Preparing to be a Strategic Education Leader
The Positive Trajectory of Education Leadership as a Profession
Multiple Challenges of 21st Century Education Leadership
The Path to Leadership is Evolving
The Large Demand for Leaders, and New Leaders, in Education
Leading Learning and Implementing Policy: The New Professional Practitioner Paradigm
Career Preparation Changes Necessitated by Strategic Leadership
Education Leader Remuneration
Paths to Professional Leadership Positions
SIGNIFICANT COURT DECISIONS AND FEDERAL LEGISLATION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
GLOSSARY
INDEX