Leadership Continuum

Information by State

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About Linking Leadership to Stimulus Funds

On average, one-fifth of states' entire general fund budgets are devoted to "human capital"--teachers and leaders--employed in K-12 public schools. Leadership is second only to teaching among school-related factors that impact student achievement.

In today's political environment, states must see return on their investment in cohesive leadership systems. Indeed, the metrics in the assurances of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) explicitly recognize that effective teaching must be coupled with effective leadership and require states to report the number and percentages of:

  • teachers in the highest-poverty and lowest-poverty schools in the state who are highly qualified;
  • teachers and principals rated at each performance level in each local education agency (LEA)'s teacher evaluation system; and
  • LEA teacher and principal evaluation systems that require evidence of student achievement outcomes.

The ARRA highlights the important role of states and districts in crafting policies and procedures to raise standards, enhance data systems, improve teacher effectiveness, and support effective intervention strategies. This cannot be done efficiently and effectively without intentional investments in school leadership. The Obama administration's $10 million increase in the fiscal year 2010 budget for school leadership competitive grants is designed to link leadership to student performance. The money would support:

  • developing and implementing incentives for principals with demonstrated effectiveness to take positions in low-performing schools;
  • and providing training and mentoring to highly effective teachers to encourage them to becomes principals in high-need schools.
Indeed, there are virtually no documented instances of troubled schools being turned around without intervention by a powerful leader. Moreover, the quality of leadership has an impact on where teachers work and how long they stay in the profession. Principals develop and manage how well staff delivers the most effective instructional practices to serve the most vulnerable populations, close achievement gaps, and meet global demands for a well-educated citizenry. So, how can states be strategic in leveraging their broad authority for strengthening the standards, training, support, and performance of education leadership, along with the conditions and incentives that affect their success?
www.nasbe.org/leadership offers a rich compendium of resources as well as examples of state policy approaches and progress thus far in each of these high-impact areas. The key considerations, critical questions and accompanying links to state examples below will help you to quickly navigate to relevant material in the areas of preparation programs, principal evaluation, teacher leadership, and tiered licensure--all popular levers states use to see return on their investments in leadership.
Strengethening Preparation Programs
Key Considerations, Critical Questions, and State Examples

¨ Programs require universities to form collaborative relationships with local districts to design training that meets the needs of schools and students within those jurisdictions.

o How are universities and districts collaborating to co-design and co-deliver training programs?

· See Georgia (scroll down to "Collaboration" subheading), Louisiana (scroll down to II. Program Description) and Kentucky (scroll to see elements 1 and 2 in "Recommendations for Redesigning Principal Preparation")

o How can districts autonomously tailor programs to meet their specific needs (e.g. urban populations)?

· See Massachusetts (scroll to seventh paragraph in state actions)

 

¨ Exemplary programs take rigorous recruitment and selection seriously.

o What state institution has responsibility for oversight of preparation programs? Are current policies and procedures working to ensure there is a high-quality pool of leader candidates? What is the certification/licensure process and how is it connected to ongoing performance?

· See critical state- and district-level recruitment questions

¨ Strong programs are well aligned with state, national, and professional standards and provide coherent curricula and robust internships.

o Does your state have a clear set of expected at standards and skills for school and district leaders? How does the state ensure that leader preparation programs are built upon these standards?

· See Iowa, Kentucky, and Delaware

o How are theory and practice linked? How can the state ensure coherence between leadership standards and coursework/clinical experience?

· See Alabama (scroll to 10. Internship)


¨ More effective programs are well-backed financially: adequate funding from states is essential to provide the internships and supervision needed to improve leadership quality.

o To ensure training aligns to the realities of today's schools and effective practice, how have you considered: purposeful recruitment and selection, collaborative partnerships, coherent curricula, productive pedagogy, robust internships, and communities of practice?

· See features of effective preparation programs (scroll to last section on the page)

¨ Preparation programs should be held accountable for graduate's performance and their impact on student achievement.

o What mechanisms are in place to ensure that preparation programs are adequately preparing school leaders to meet standards and succeed in leadership positions?

· See Connecticut (scroll to third paragraph in state actions)

· See Georgia (scroll to "Quality Assurance" subheading)

Principal Evaluation
Key Considerations, Critical Questions, and State Examples

¨ Evaluation is essential to provide feedback and promote continuous improvement and ongoing learning.

o Does the state require evaluations of principals as part of its licensure or relicensure requirements?

· See Iowa (scroll to Sec. 58, 284A.7: Evaluation Requirements for Administrators at the bottom of the page)

 

¨ Well-designed leadership evaluation strategies can connect distinct areas of regulation, guide program design and delivery, and provide information for accountability purposes.

o Does the state use performance measures of school leaders to promote the continuous improvement of principal preparation programs?

· See Delaware (scroll halfway down the page to the "Delaware Performance Appraisal System" subheading)

 

¨ Principals in highly productive schools invest considerable energy and resources in improving the technical core of their business: teaching and student learning. High-quality leaders impact student learning by shaping their school's professional environment, developing quality teachers, and organizing resources to improve classroom instruction and student learning.

o Are your state's standards for school leaders performance-based and grounded in the research on school effectiveness?

· See Val-Ed

Teacher Leadership
Key Considerations, Critical Questions, and State Examples

¨ In the context of instructional improvement and school turnaround, valuing and harnessing the power of teacher leaders and distributive leadership is important. Research has often made the case that for any school reform initiative to be sustainable, teachers must be actively and deeply involved in the change. Research suggests that including leadership as a component of teachers' roles heightens their sense of ownership in the school mission.

o How does the state think about teacher leadership in relation to the principalship? What are the implications for the state in viewing a key role of the principal as being a facilitator of shared leadership?

· See Ohio's leadership development framework

 

¨ Endorsements provide an opportunity for teachers to strengthen school culture, contribute to professional practice, and/or prepare for becoming a principal, all of which can benefit staff retention and overall school performance, particularly when they are not perceived as add-ons, but as part of a broader initiative to reconfigure leadership.

o How have states created policies to foster the development of teacher leaders?

· See Georgia, Illinois (scroll to "Endorsement in Teacher Leadership" subheading), and Louisiana (scroll to the final subheading on the page, Teacher Leader Endorsement (Optional))

· See a comprehensive 14-course university teacher leadership curriculum created by Alabama, Delaware, Kansas, Kentucky, and Ohio and Joe Murphy from Vanderbilt University

o Which states are taking an active role in promoting the role of teacher leaders?

· See teacher leadership: state actions

Tiered Licensure
Key Considerations, Critical Questions, and State Examples

¨ Embrace continuous improvement and licensure renewal by requiring principals to move from mere competence to expertise in improving schools.

 

o If relicensure is part of a tiered system, what are the performance requirements to move from one tier to the next?

· See Virginia (scroll to second subheading, "Two-tiered licensure System")

¨ Aligns licensure with state and national school leader standards.

o Are certification rules and relicensure requirements aligned with state standards? Are they performance-based?

· See Louisiana