Educational Administration And Education Administration

The ever-changing landscape of education and school accountability has given rise to a renewed focus on shared leadership. In the past, the principal was viewed as the primary decision maker within a school. However, Glickman (1989) points out that it is impossible for school principals to effectively complete all the necessary instructional and managerial tasks within schools. He contends that some teachers have more leadership abilities than the actual administrators and that “in successful schools, principals aren’t threatened by the wisdom of others, instead, they cherish it by distributing leadership” (Glickman, 1989, p. 8).

Donald E. Heller, (2011), The States and public Higher education policy, Cengage Publications, pp 200-288

The following information was gathered during a discussion with Dr. Clayton Mork from the Crescent School District. He shared his personal view of the role of an instructional leader. Also his view of how instructional leadership practices relate to student achievement. Dr. Mork shared two instructional leadership actions and outcomes he implemented at Crescent School District related to student achievement. Dr. Mork also explained his philosophy of curriculum development regarding involvement of teaching staff.

Teacher leaders and administrators play a vital role in the overall organizational structure of a school. As discussed in Educational Leadership, there are ten roles that teacher leaders tend to gravitate towards. The roles of teacher leaders vary according to duties and responsibilities placed on the teacher leader, they include the following: resource provider, instructional specialist, curriculum specialist, classroom supporter, learning facilitator, mentor, school leader, data coach, catalyst for change, and learner (Harrison & Killion, 2007, pg. 74-77). As a teacher leadership at Lake Oconee Academy, I personally see my duties and responsibilities covering several of these roles. Since the beginning of my employment at Lake Oconee

The role of instructional leader at Napavine Jr. Sr. High School is one of shared respect. The administrators’ role is that of manager. He oversees the operation of the building, the curriculum selection, staff’s adherence to state and federal mandates, student behavior and staff behavior. The principal expects teachers to teach the curricula selected by teachers and to adhere to the general attendance and behavior expectations set forth by our mission statement. His role is to guide staff and students to meet these expectations. Jason keeps apprised as to when each department is allowed to adopt new curriculum and then gives that department time during the school year to meet and plan for the adoption. He participates in curriculum meetings, but ultimately allows teachers to select what is best for their department. He guides staff by reminding them of federal and state mandates and the district budget.

Since its development in 1994 the standards of Educational Leadership have pursued promoting an understanding on what is expected from the educational administration field.1 The goal of this paper is to present a personal appraisal of a connection between the ELCC standards and my own experiences in district leadership and a reflection on my professional practice of the standards. It is implicit that an educational leader should promote the success of every student by advocating and effectively implementing the 6 standards of Educational Leadership. 2

Educational leadership has changed and evolved through the years as a result of dramatic changes in the school culture, student demographics, environment, science, technology, and economy. Given the complexity and unpredictability of the demanding challenges to educate all children, prospective school leaders may find it desirable to define their own beliefs about instructional supervision and evaluation as they prepare for the rigor of school leadership practice. While enacting supervision, a supervisor is guided by certain values, assumptions, beliefs, and opinions that support the purpose and process of supervision (Sergiovanni & Starratt, 2006). This can be described as the supervisor’s

The leaders and managers are the pillars of any educational setting on which the success and failure of the setting depend. Before discussing the leadership and

As I am now in a place of solaced reflection within my doctoral studies, I often see the transcendence, parallels, and even the unfortunate problems that stem from establishing teacher leadership. Granted, I can go forever and a day about what I observed and the leadership skills I cultivated while teaching public middle school music. However, the chance to view some of the scenarios and transformative events as explained the various texts, articles, and other resources has allowed for different points of relevancies and epiphanies during the course. Specifically, aspects of my views on the constructs of school reform, the promotion of a cohesive learning environment, and the overall definition of school leadership have changed or have at least been impressed upon by the contents of this class. The presentation of these constructs will allow for a brief view of the changes that took place in my wonderments in teacher leadership.

Schools must meet the challenges of a changing educational climate and effective leadership is crucial in helping to guide the whole school community through the potentially treacherous waters of change. This assignment will delve into the complexity of leadership and will emphasize that whilst leaders can attempt to create conditions to help schools improve, they are not solely responsible for the outcome of the education process. Fullan (2001) posits that effective school leadership has the ability to manage educational change by building strong relationships and establishing a moral purpose. Therefore, the school leader has the orchestral role of subtly creating the conditions necessary for pupils and staff to thrive. This assignment will focus primarily on three of the preconditions for effective Leadership for Learning, mentioned with the assignment title: the role of shared leadership, explicit conversations and the creation of settings, mindsets, and strategies conducive to learning. The writer feels, that effective leaders can transform the idea of mutual accountability into 'moral accountability '. Therefore this section can be interwoven within each of these three strands of Leadership for Learning mentioned; in a sense mutual or moral accountability could be interpreted as a by-product of effective leadership.

A shift towards the adoption of alternative, and more critical, theoretical lenses in school leadership began with William Foster’s (1986), Paradigms and Promises: New Approaches to Educational Administration. According to Foster (1986), the strong belief of school administration to scientific methods demonstrated the insensitivity to culture and politics. Hence, Foster presented the argument for the use of critical theory to school administration practices. Foster argued that critical theory can help challenge school leaders to not ignore the historical roles that schools play in maintaining the advantages for some and disadvantages for others. Foster, also, believed that school administrators could use critical theory to wisely resolve the

Masters of Arts in educational leadership is a study field that interested me deciding on the master program to pursue (Green, 2010). The program is essential in academic institutions since it views leadership as a relational process. In other words, it has an all-inclusive attitude towards people and their diverse points of views sharing a common goal and vision among individuals in the institution. The strong interest and desire of pursuing the art program resulted from the interest of understanding the cultural aspects of people that leads to their diversified points of view. Additional interests in educational leadership arose from the increased urge of expounding knowledge on leadership. Furthermore, based on the dynamic nature of the modern society, pursuing the master program aimed at understanding different management styles and required skills for these styles (Green, 2010). The discussion paper has the objective of expounding and reflecting on the different aspects of educational leadership learnt in the MA in educational leadership program.

The administrator should have an open communication with all school personnel. Administrators must communicate regularly and meaningfully with all members of the school community. They provide this leadership skill by demonstrating the commitment to academic excellence. As the instructional leader of the school, an administrator will; collaborate, provide professional development, and offer instructional support to those in need. As mandated by the district and state, the instructional leader has a duty to evaluate the teacher 's instruction and performance. Evaluations should be unprejudiced and well documented specifying both strengths and weaknesses of the teacher. As the instructional leader,

The concept and practice of teacher leadership have gained momentum in the past two decades. Teachers are assuming more leadership functions at both instructional and organizational levels of practice. Empirical literature reveals effects of teacher leadership practice, teacher leader characteristics, and conditions that promote and challenge teacher leadership.

Effective school leadership today must combine the traditional school leadership duties such as teacher evaluation, budgeting, scheduling, and facilities maintenance with a deep involvement with specific aspects of teaching and learning. Effective instructional leaders are intensely involved in curricular and instructional issues that directly affect student achievement (Cotton, 2003). The writer of this paper acknowledges that school principals should play the role of instructional leaders, not just a school manager. The reality is that are many demands on a principals time and management skills making it difficult for most of them to spend time in classrooms, when performing teacher evaluation. Principals often make sure that teachers