Elementary principals’
development of distributed
instructional leadership
WERA Conference
Daniel W. Lysne
Session Overview
Leadership Theory
Eraut’s Area of Knowledge
Study Design and Setting
Qualitative Data Points from Study
Findings
Principals Matter
Measurable impact on Schools
Enhance teacher work and
collaboration
School culture is shaped and enhanced
Vital to improving teacher and student
learning
Leadership Theory
Transactional Leadership—(Burns, 1978)
Transformational Leadership—(Burns, 1978)
Distributed Leadership—(Spillane & Camburn, 2006)
Instructional Leadership—(Alvarado, Elmore & Resnick,
2001; Darling-Hammond, Hightower, Husbands, LaFors, Young, & Christopher, 2003;
Gallucci, Boatright, Lysne, & Swinnerton, 2005)
Other forms of principal leadership—Moral,
Critical, Managerial, Charismatic, Top-Down, Visionary
Leadership Theory
Transactional Leadership—(Burns, 1978)
Transformational Leadership—(Burns, 1978)
Distributed Leadership—(Spillane & Camburn, 2006)
Instructional Leadership—(Alvarado, Elmore & Resnick,
2001; Darling-Hammond, Hightower, Husbands, LaFors, Young, & Christopher, 2003;
Gallucci, Boatright, Lysne, & Swinnerton, 2005)
Other forms of principal leadership—Moral,
Critical, Managerial, Charismatic, Top-Down, Visionary
Leadership Theory
Transactional Leadership—(Burns, 1978)
Transformational Leadership—(Burns, 1978)
Distributed Leadership—(Spillane & Camburn, 2006)
Instructional Leadership—(Alvarado, Elmore & Resnick,
2001; Darling-Hammond, Hightower, Husbands, LaFors, Young, & Christopher, 2003;
Gallucci, Boatright, Lysne, & Swinnerton, 2005)
Other forms of principal leadership—Moral,
Critical, Managerial, Charismatic, Top-Down, Visionary
Instructional Leadership—(Alvarado, Elmore & Resnick, 2001;
Darling-Hammond, Hightower, Husbands, LaFors, Young, & Christopher, 2003; Gallucci,
Boatright, Lysne, & Swinnerton, 2005)
Leithwood and Duke (1998) view instructional leadership as,
“typically focused on the behaviors of teachers as they engage
in activities directly affecting the growth of students” (p. 47).
Portin, DeArmond, Scheider, and Gundlach (2003) identify
instructional leadership as, “Assuring quality of instruction,
modeling teaching practice, supervising curriculum, and
assuring quality of teaching resources” (p. 18).
Blase and Blase (1999) suggest that, ideally, instructional
leadership initiates teacher learning of adaptable mastery of
flexible alternatives rather than enforcing rigid procedures and
methods.
Leiberman (1995) views instructional leadership as supporting
teachers in developing their teaching skills.
Instructional Leadership—(Alvarado, Elmore & Resnick, 2001;
Darling-Hammond, Hightower, Husbands, LaFors, Young, & Christopher, 2003; Gallucci,
Boatright, Lysne, & Swinnerton, 2005)
Leithwood and Duke (1998) view instructional leadership as,
“typically focused on the behaviors of teachers as they engage
in activities directly affecting the growth of students” (p. 47).
Portin, DeArmond, Scheider, and Gundlach (2003) identify
instructional leadership as, “Assuring quality of instruction,
modeling teaching practice, supervising curriculum, and
assuring quality of teaching resources” (p. 18).
Blase and Blase (1999) suggest that, ideally, instructional
leadership initiates teacher learning of adaptable mastery of
flexible alternatives rather than enforcing rigid procedures and
methods.
Leiberman (1995) views instructional leadership as supporting
teachers in developing their teaching skills.
Instructional Leadership—(Alvarado, Elmore & Resnick, 2001;
Darling-Hammond, Hightower, Husbands, LaFors, Young, & Christopher, 2003; Gallucci,
Boatright, Lysne, & Swinnerton, 2005)
Leithwood and Duke (1998) view instructional leadership as,
“typically focused on the behaviors of teachers as they engage
in activities directly affecting the growth of students” (p. 47).
Portin, DeArmond, Scheider, and Gundlach (2003) identify
instructional leadership as, “Assuring quality of instruction,
modeling teaching practice, supervising curriculum, and
assuring quality of teaching resources” (p. 18).
Blase and Blase (1999) suggest that, ideally, instructional
leadership initiates teacher learning of adaptable mastery of
flexible alternatives rather than enforcing rigid procedures and
methods.
Leiberman (1995) views instructional leadership as supporting
teachers in developing their teaching skills.
Instructional Leadership—(Alvarado, Elmore & Resnick, 2001;
Darling-Hammond, Hightower, Husbands, LaFors, Young, & Christopher, 2003; Gallucci,
Boatright, Lysne, & Swinnerton, 2005)
Leithwood and Duke (1998) view instructional leadership as,
“typically focused on the behaviors of teachers as they engage
in activities directly affecting the growth of students” (p. 47).
Portin, DeArmond, Scheider, and Gundlach (2003) identify
instructional leadership as, “Assuring quality of instruction,
modeling teaching practice, supervising curriculum, and
assuring quality of teaching resources” (p. 18).
Blase and Blase (1999) suggest that, ideally, instructional
leadership initiates teacher learning of adaptable mastery of
flexible alternatives rather than enforcing rigid procedures and
methods.
Leiberman (1995) views instructional leadership as supporting
teachers in developing their teaching skills.
Instructional Leadership—(Alvarado, Elmore & Resnick, 2001;
Darling-Hammond, Hightower, Husbands, LaFors, Young, & Christopher, 2003; Gallucci,
Boatright, Lysne, & Swinnerton, 2005)
Leithwood and Duke (1998) view instructional leadership as,
“typically focused on the behaviors of teachers as they engage
in activities directly affecting the growth of students” (p. 47).
Portin, DeArmond, Scheider, and Gundlach (2003) identify
instructional leadership as, “Assuring quality of instruction,
modeling teaching practice, supervising curriculum, and
assuring quality of teaching resources” (p. 18).
Blase and Blase (1999) suggest that, ideally, instructional
leadership initiates teacher learning of adaptable mastery of
flexible alternatives rather than enforcing rigid procedures and
methods.
Leiberman (1995) views instructional leadership as supporting
teachers in developing their teaching skills.
Instructional Leadership in
Practice
Personnel actions that illustrate instructional
leadership
Are knowledgeable about instruction
Provide support for teachers (For example: consultants or
coaches)
Provide feedback to teachers
Conduct classroom observations
Emphasize instruction (during meetings or evaluations)
Design or deliver professional development
Review student work and student data to make decisions about
how to improve instruction
Hold teachers accountable for making improvements in
instruction
(Source: Marsh, Kerr, Ikemoto, Darilek, Suttorp, Zimmer, and Barney, 2005)
Research Questions
What does distributed instructional leadership
look like in practice?
How does context factor into distributed
instructional leadership?
What key events support distributed
instructional leadership?
What lessons can be learned for future
leaders about distributed instructional
leadership?
Reflective Practice
Reflective practice theory offers a way to understand how
individuals make sense of new ideas and new roles for
themselves and others within specific contexts.
Reflective practice allows for a connection to be made by
learners between the theoretical underpinnings of a
profession with the day-to-day activities of a profession
(Barak, 2005).
Eraut (1994) suggests that reflective practice can
potentially cover five knowledge areas that shape the way
leaders craft their vision for a school.
Reflective Practice
Reflective practice theory offers a way to understand how
individuals make sense of new ideas and new roles for
themselves and others within specific contexts.
Reflective practice allows for a connection to be made by
learners between the theoretical underpinnings of a
profession with the day-to-day activities of a profession
(Barak, 2005).
Eraut (1994) suggests that reflective practice can
potentially cover five knowledge areas that shape the way
leaders craft their vision for a school.
Reflective Practice
Reflective practice theory offers a way to understand how
individuals make sense of new ideas and new roles for
themselves and others within specific contexts.
Reflective practice allows for a connection to be made by
learners between the theoretical underpinnings of a
profession with the day-to-day activities of a profession
(Barak, 2005).
Eraut (1994) suggests that reflective practice can
potentially cover five knowledge areas that shape the way
leaders craft their vision for a school.
Reflective Practice
Reflective practice theory offers a way to understand how
individuals make sense of new ideas and new roles for
themselves and others within specific contexts.
Reflective practice allows for a connection to be made by
learners between the theoretical underpinnings of a
profession with the day-to-day activities of a profession
(Barak, 2005).
Eraut (1994) suggests that reflective practice can
potentially cover five knowledge areas that shape the way
leaders craft their vision for a school.
Eraut’s Areas of Knowledge
Personnel
Situational
Educational Practice
Conceptual
Control
A principal understands her
staff based on the
formal and informal interactions
she has with them.
She sees strengths and areas of
future development.
Eraut’s Areas of Knowledge
Personnel
Situational
Educational Practice
Conceptual
Control
Principals’ situational knowledge is shaped
by where they focus their energies.
A principal responds to situations based on
the experiences and knowledge she has.
Eraut’s Areas of Knowledge
Personnel
Situational
Educational Practice
Conceptual
Control
Knowledge of educational practice is
understanding the range of possible policies
and practice available for educators
to use (Eraut, 1994).
Eraut’s Areas of Knowledge
Personnel
Situational
Educational Practice
Conceptual
Control
Conceptual knowledge represents the ideas,
theories, and concepts that a person
uses to solve problems (Eraut, 1994).
Eraut’s Areas of Knowledge
Personnel
Situational
Educational Practice
Conceptual
Control
Eraut (1994, p.96) notes, “More fundamental
still is the knowledge of one’s strengths and
weaknesses, which guides the way one delegates
and the types of task one assigns to oneself.”
Eraut’s Areas of Knowledge
Personnel
Situational
Educational Practice
Conceptual
Control
Case Study
Two sites of identified
instructional leadership
Interviews, observational field
notes, and document analysis
Used a conceptual framework
and a semi-grounded theory
approach
Two Cases of Instructional
Leadership
Ordal Elementary
Affluent “on the hill” Neighborhood
Veteran and Highly Recognized Staff
Mrs. Janssen completing her second year as
principal
Tingelstad Elementary
High Poverty “in the valley” Neighborhood
“Young” staff
Mrs. Olson has taught and led at the school for
eight years
Tingelstad Elementary
We don’t want to smatter our employees
with a bunch of latest greatest trends,
phrases, or research. We want to go deep
in what we believe in and try to improve
the overall quality of something…not this
year we are going to study math…next year
we are going study the six traits…and that
typically happens in education. (Building
Coach)
Ordal Elementary
Marcia and I met with each grade level. We
said here was your goal. This is where your
kids were. This is where they are now. Let’s
talk about that. What is the data saying to
you? Do we need to reevaluate? What are
we going to do with those kids that are
nowhere near meeting the goal? At that time
we sat down and had that discussion. It was
really interesting because the staff are very
familiar with writing goals and writing out
those target. (Janssen Interview #2, 5/24/07)
Personnel Knowledge-Tingelstad Elementary
Anita Olson was involved in the classroom whenever she was in
the classroom. She was seeing how things were going and would
say, ‘this is what I think and let me help you out here.’ I felt that
this was a great place because you could make mistakes but you
learned from them. And you weren’t afraid to make mistakes.
(Quinten Interview #1, 2/13/07)
If she has come in and observed you she also sends people to you
specifically. Or if there is something she has observed that you
need some help with…nicely and kindly in your
observation…she’ll say I think it would be beneficial for you to
go and watch so and so. (Richards Interview #1, 2/19/07)
Personnel Knowledge-- Ordal
Elementary
My goal was to also be in their classroom at least three times a
month for some sort of just informal, being able to see what they
were doing. Through those, through that, really came a lot of my
discussions afterwards talking about where peoples’ interest, what
were they working on, what were they working on outside of
school? Their classes, the things that they had been involved in.
(Janssen Interview #1, 2/5/07)
I try to steer away from Marcia Kline and doing anything like
observations together. In the sense that people start to fear that
if Marcia and I are talking about anything along those lines
that somehow it is going to be in their evaluation. So I really try
to keep whatever Marcia arranges to do with teachers separate.
(Janssen Interview #1, 2/5/07)
Situational Knowledge-Tingelstad Elementary
We have stayed with Strategies That Work, it is Stephanie Harvey’s
book, and we are in our fifth year. We use that with best practices,
what matters most…everything is researched based” (Olson
Interview #1, 2/5/07).
Having the staff hear it from an outside expert was so powerful
because then they hear it from me and hear it from the outside
expert. The teachers then ventured off to their classrooms and
they would start hearing that same kind of talk…it’s what we do”
(Olson Interview #3, 6/12/07).
Situational Knowledge-- Ordal
Elementary
I have that trust built with people and also the
questions had been asked before so I was able to come
in with a quicker decision and say this is the way we
are going to do it instead of waiting to hear from
everybody else” (Janssen Interview #2, 5/24/07).
When she wants to get those goals sets…I then have to
figure out how to make that happen at the
professional development meeting” (Kline Interview
#2, 5/10/07).
Nora Janssen is about moving the student achievement
but getting consensus from the team to do that”
(Kopervik Interview #1, 3/13/07).
Educational Knowledge-Tingelstad Elementary
When I came on board, we decided to do a little philosophy change. I
talked to the staff about the whole child. So we talked about school
relationships because we needed to do that before we could tackle
academics. We talked about relationships, resources. We, as a staff, came
together and we went to Love and Logic classes. We created a language.
(Olson Interview #1, 2/5/07)
We feel like if we become very strong in what we have in the
classrooms then math comes along, science comes along, social studies
and so on. We brought in a Stephanie Harvey consultant; we couldn’t get
Stephanie. (The consultant) came in and we had her come in several
times. She modeled in the classrooms and the teachers were just in awe
because she did our expectations and our behavior but the academics were
so involved in the classrooms that there were no behavior issues at all.
Kids were learning. We saw the power of that kind of really focused
lesson. Then the consultant was no longer going to be available and so
Bevin Patterson talked with Stephanie Harvey and said ‘oh I can do this.’
So Bevin is now a consultant for Stephanie Harvey. (Olson Interview #1,
2/5/07)
Educational Knowledge-Ordal Elementary
And we had a meeting a couple of months ago where they got subs
so the grade levels could sit down with Nora Janssen and Marcia
Kline for an hour and talk about our goals…you are there what are
you doing about it…what is your next step… (Marston
Interview #1, 2/13/07)
What we’ve done is try to stay with, we have a certain theme
that goes through the year, and it is differentiated instruction.
And from there, that’s what we build all of our professional
development on. So we can be talking about math, but we are
talking about how we differentiate instruction for those low
learners, those high learners, those medium learners…what are we
doing for kids. And then the next session we can be talking about
writing or reading. (Janssen Interview #2, 5/24/07)
Conceptual Knowledge-Tingelstad Elementary
At that time, Anita Olson knew that poverty was an issue and she
said she sometimes didn’t feel like a principal, she felt like she was
a social worker because she had to deal with so many social issues
when parents would come to school drunk or inebriated or
drugged. And she had to deal with those issues in a positive way
so they would not impact negatively the student or the student’s
relationship with the family. (Kopervik Interview #1, 3/13/07)
She sometimes will bring articles and will say, ‘Have you seen this
one or have you thought of this? Or this is what another school is
doing.’ After a principals’ meeting she might say, ‘Have you
thought about this?’ (Patterson Interview #1, 2/12/07).
Conceptual Knowledge-Ordal Elementary
Janssen didn’t feel the need to ‘be the principal’
and be in charge. She was able to delegate
that to other people. And I think that is true
leadership when she was able to do that”
(Kopervik Interview #1, 3/13/07)
Conceptual knowledge: Janssen’s conceptual understanding of
how teams set goals, monitor goals, and reassess goals.
Control Knowledge-Tingelstad Elementary
“I am the light and she is the heat” (Patterson
Interview #1, 2/12/07)
What gets inspected gets respected” (Patterson
Interview #1, 2/12/07).
Control Knowledge-- Ordal
Elementary
I think it is and it should be the largest part of my job
because building that capacity within teachers
is…even if I covering a classroom so they can get out
and go to another classroom or work with Marcia
Kline. I look as that as part of my job of instructional
time…so that is freeing them to go do the things they
need to be able to do to build themselves up. (Janssen
Interview #1, 2/5/07)
Instructional Leadership in
Practice
Personnel actions that illustrate instructional leadership
Are knowledgeable about instruction
Provide support for teachers (For example: consultants or coaches)
Provide feedback to teachers
Conduct classroom observations
Emphasize instruction (during meetings or evaluations)
Design or deliver professional development
Review student work and student data to make decisions about how to
improve instruction
Hold teachers accountable for making improvements in instruction
(Source: Marsh, Kerr, Ikemoto, Darilek, Suttorp, Zimmer, and Barney, 2005)
Distribution of Instructional
Leadership
Tingelstad
Elementary
Ordal
Elementary
Knowledge of
Instruction
Coach
Principal
Teachers
Teachers
Coach
Principal
Coach
Teachers
Provide
Support for
Teachers
Principal
Coach
Teachers
Coach
Principal
Conduct
Classroom
Observation
Coach
Principal
Principal
Accountability
Principal
Coach
Teachers
Teachers
Coach
Principal
Principal
Teachers
Teachers
Coach
Distribution of Instructional
Leadership
Tingelstad
Elementary
Ordal
Elementary
Emphasize
Instruction
Coach
Principal
Principal
Teachers
Teachers
Coach
Principal
Coach
Teachers
Design P.D.
Coach
Teachers
Principal
Coach
Teachers
Teachers
Principal
Review
Student
Work &
Data
Coach
Principal
Teachers
Principal
Teachers
Coach
Findings
Semi-Structured Support
School Coaches
Organic reflective practice
Conduit for ideas
Self-selected and prescribed
District supports were optional/varied
Buildings could build contextually relevant solutions
In contrast to top-down instructional leadership
examples
New York Dist #2
San Diego Unified
Institute for Learning
Findings
Data as a driver
Data drives instruction and vision
Principals were trained in how to utilize data to
focus instruction
Data was not the sole motivator
Success supports efforts
Data validates efforts
Provides urgency
Findings
Context of students and staff
Urgency creates opportunities
Low scores and high poverty create
opportunities for a specific Vision of Good
Instruction
Stability allows less prescription
Well established staffs require a unifying vision
but flexibility in fulfilling the vision
Findings
Organic Reflective Practice
The Coach and Principal
Distributed Leadership
Reflection on instruction-based leadership
Built-in support
On-site support
Context-specific
Grounded in practice
Findings
Cohesion
Common language
Instructional
Best practices
Differentiated Instruction
Goal Setting
Ongoing
Reflective in nature
Using real numbers and realistic targets
Limitations to Study
Small sample size
Existing “Instructional” leadership
Specific structure of district
School based coaches
Level of autonomy
Final Thoughts
Common Language
On-Site Support
Context-specific
Data-Driven
Contact Information
Dan Lysne
(253)862-6980
[email protected]
[email protected]
5909 Myers Rd. E.
Bonney Lake, WA 98391