Appendix B The Balanced Leadership Framework

167 Pages·2011·3.15 MB·English

Appendix B

The Balanced Leadership Framework:
Connecting Vision with Action

Principal Application

About the Authors McREL’s Balanced Leadership Profile
®
Tim Waters is President and CEO of Mid-continent How well are you fulfilling the Balanced Leadership
Research for Education and Learning (McREL), located in responsibilities and practices in your school?
Denver, Colorado. He is the author and co-author of several
With McREL’s online feedback tool, the Balanced Leadership
publications, including School Leadership that Works: From
Profile, you can benchmark your performance against the 21
Research to Results. He has served as McREL’s CEO since
responsibilities and 66 practices of highly effective leaders
1995, following 23 years in public education, the last seven of
described in this publication.
which were as the superintendent of the Greeley, Colorado,
school system.
Take the free self-assessment or invite your school staff
to give you feedback on your performance. You’ll get an
Greg Cameron is a Senior Director for McREL Field
objective picture of your strengths and opportunities for
Services. As a member of McREL’s leadership development
growth as an instructional leader as well as how stakeholders
team, Mr. Cameron designs and facilitates professional
perceive changes in your school.
development sessions for educational leaders across the
United States and Australia. He is the co-author of McREL’s
Learn more at
Balanced Leadership Professional Development Sessions and Teaching
http://www.educationleadershipthatworks.org/
Reading in Social Studies. Mr. Cameron has been an elementary
school principal, an assistant principal, and a middle and high
school classroom teacher.
© 2007 McREL
20080707
Waters, J. T. & Grubb, S. (2005). Distinguishing the essential “Wisdom is knowing what to do next, skill is
from the important: Using research to strengthen the use knowing how to do it, and virtue is doing it.”
of standards for administrator preparation and licensure
David Starr Jordan, scientist and educator
programs. The State Education Standard, The Journal of the
National Association of State Boards of Education (2005,
September), pp. 26–33.
Introduction
Waters, J. T., Marzano, R. J., & McNulty, B. (2004), Leadership that Over the past several years, Mid-continent Research for
sparks learning. Educational Leadership, 61(7), 48–52. Education and Learning (McREL) has completed multiple
meta-analytic studies on the practices of effective schools,
Waters, J. T., Marzano, R. J., & McNulty, B. (2004). Developing the
teachers, and principals. These studies provide general
science of educational leadership. ERS Spectrum: Journal of
guidance for what school leaders and teachers can do to
Research and Information. 22(1), 4–13.
increase student achievement.
Wenger, E. C., & Snyder, W. M. (2000). The organizational frontier.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Review. We recognize, however, that simply knowing what to do is
often not enough to transform schools and classrooms.
Wheatley, M. (1994). Leadership and the new science, learning about
Leaders also must know why certain practices are important,
organization from an orderly universe. San Francisco: Berrett-
when they should be used, and how to apply them skillfully in
Koehler Publishers.
their own schools and classrooms.
That is why we developed the Balanced Leadership
Framework—to help school leaders apply findings from our
recent research on effective principals to their own leadership
behaviors. In so doing, we hope that this Framework will help
leaders connect vision (i.e., knowing what to do and why to do
it) with action (i.e., knowing how to do it) in their schools.
McREL’s research on leadership
Between 1998 and 2003, McREL conducted three major
quantitative studies on the effects of classroom, school,
and leadership practices on student achievement. The first
reported on nine clusters of research-based instructional
strategies with statistically significant effects on student
achievement (Marzano, 1998; Marzano, Gaddy, & Dean,
2000). McREL described these strategies in the 2001 ASCD
64 1
publication, Classroom Instruction that Works. The second study Marzano, R. J. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research
into action. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and
reported on school practices, also with statistically significant
Curriculum Development.
effects on student achievement (Marzano, 2000; 2003).
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (2005).
The meta-analysis
McREL Insights: Schools that “beat the odds.” Aurora, CO: Author.
These two studies set the stage for McREL’s meta-analysis of
Nadler, D. A., Shaw, R. B., Walton, A. E., & Associates. (1994).
school-level leadership and its effects on student achievement
Discontinuous change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
(Waters, Marzano, & McNulty, 2003). This analysis began
in 2001 with the review of more than 5,000 studies that
Newmann, F. M., & Wehlage, G. G. (1995). Successful school
purported to have examined the effects of principal restructuring: A report to the public and educators. Madison, WI:
leadership on student achievement. From these 5,000 studies, Wisconsin Center for Education Research.
69 were selected based on the quality of their design, rigor,
Rogers, E. (1995). Diffusion of innovations. New York: The Free Press.
reliability and relevance of data to the questions McREL was
attempting to answer about school-level leadership. In all
Rosenholtz, S. J. (1991). Teachers’ workplace: The social organization of
cases, the studies shared four characteristics: schools. New York: Teachers College Press.
• The dependent variable in each study was student Ross, J. A., Hogaboam-Gray, A., & Gray, P. (2004). Prior student
achievement. achievement, collaborative school processes, and collective
teacher efficacy. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 3(3), 163–188.
• The independent variable in each study was leadership.
• Student achievement measures were all quantitative and Seligman, M. (1990). Learned optimism: How to change your mind and
standardized. your life. New York: Random House, Inc.
• Measures of school-level leadership were all quantitative Snow, D. (2005). Classroom strategies for helping at risk students.
and standardized. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development.
The 69 studies included more than 14,000 teacher ratings of
Wagner, T. (2002). Making the grade: Reinventing America’s schools. New
principal leadership for 2,802 principals. Ratings of principal
York: Routledge Falmer.
leadership were correlated with more than 1.4 million student
achievement scores. To our knowledge, this is the largest-ever Waldrop, M. M. (1992). Complexity: The emerging science at the edge of
sample for conducting this type of analysis. The findings, order and chaos. New York: Touchstone.
conclusions, and technical notes from this meta-analysis have
Waters, J. T., Marzano, R. J., & McNulty, B. (2003). Balanced leader-
been published in School Leadership that Works: From Research to
ship: What 30 years of research tells us about the effect of leadership
Results (Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005).
on student achievement. Aurora, CO: Mid-continent Research for
Education and Learning.
2 63
Heifetz, R. (1994). Leadership without easy answers. Cambridge, MA: The purpose of any meta-analysis is to determine rela-
Belknap Press.
tionships between dependent and independent variables.
McREL’s meta-analysis of research on school leaders
Hock, D. (1999). Birth of the chaordic age. San Francisco: Barrett-
examined the relationship between student achievement and
Koehler.
school-level leadership. It produced three major findings.
Hord, S. M. (1997). Professional learning communities: What are
they and why are they important? Issues About Change, 6(1), 1–8.
First, we found a statistically significant correlation between
school-level leadership and student achievement of .25,
Hoy, W. K., Smith, P. A., & Sweetland, S. R. (2002). A test of a
which translates to a one standard deviation increase in
model of school achievement in rural schools: The signifi-
cance of collective efficacy. In W. K. Hoy & C. Miskel (Eds.), principal leadership behavior corresponding with a 10
Theory and research in educational administration: Vol. 1 (pp. 185– percentile point difference in student achievement on a
202). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing. norm referenced test. No longer is there a question about
the effect of leadership on student achievement. Clearly,
Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (2004). Measuring the strategic
leadership makes a difference.
readiness of intangible assets. Harvard Business Review OnPoint
Collection, 13–27.
Second, we identified 21 leadership responsibilities with sta-
Low, J., & Kalafut, (2002). Invisible advantage: How intangibles are tistically significant correlations to student achievement and
driving business performance: Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing. 66 practices or behaviors for fulfilling these responsibilities.
With this finding, the concept of “instructional leadership” is
Marzano, R. J., Gaddy, B. B., & Dean, C. (2000). What works in
no longer an abstraction or left only to theory. As shown in
classroom instruction. Aurora, CO: Mid-continent Research for
Exhibit 1, we now have a well-defined set of research-based
Education and Learning.
leadership responsibilities and associated practices correlated
Marzano, R. J., Waters, J. T., & McNulty, B. A. (2005). School with student achievement.
leadership that works: From research to results. Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Marzano, R. J. (1998). A theory-based meta-analysis of research on
instruction. Aurora, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education
and Learning.
Marzano, R. J. (2000). A new era of school reform: Going where the
research takes us. Aurora, CO: Mid-continent Research for
Education and Learning.
62 3
Exhibit 1: Principal leadership responsibilities & practices Bibliography
Responsibilities (extent Associated practices Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W.
to which the principal …)
H. Freeman & Company.
Culture: fosters Promotes cooperation among staff
Beckard, R. & Pritchard, W. (1992). Changing the essence: The art
shared beliefs and a
Promotes a sense of well-being of creating and leading fundamental change in organizations. San
sense of community and
Promotes cohesion among staff Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
cooperation
Develops an understanding of purpose
Bridges, W. (1991). Managing transitions: Making the most of change.
Develops a shared vision of what the Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
school could be like
DuFour, R., & Eaker, R. (1998). Professional learning communi-
Order: establishes a Provides and enforces clear structure, ties at work: Best practices for enhancing student achievement.
set of standard operating rules, and procedures for students Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
procedures and routines Development.
Provides and enforces clear structures,
rules, and procedures for staff
Fullan, M. (1993). Change forces: Probing the depths of educational reform.
London: Falmer Press.
Establishes routines regarding the
running of the school that staff
Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a culture of change. San Francisco:
understand and follow
Jossey-Bass.
Discipline: protects Protects instructional time from
Goddard, R. D. (2001). Collective efficacy: A neglected construct
teachers from issues interruptions
in the study of schools and achievement. Journal of Educational
and influences that
Protects/shelters teachers from Psychology, 93(3), 467–476.
would detract from their
distractions
teaching time or focus
Goddard, R. D. (2003). The impact of schools on teacher beliefs,
Resources: provides Ensures teachers have necessary materials influence, and student achievement: The role of collective
teachers with materials and equipment efficacy beliefs. In J. Raths & A. C. McAninch (Eds.), Teacher
and professional beliefs and classroom performance: The impact of teacher education (pp.
Ensures teachers have necessary staff
development necessary for 183–202). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
development opportunities that directly
the successful execution
enhance their teaching Goddard, R. D., Hoy, W. K., & Hoy, A. W. (2004). Collective
of their jobs
efficacy beliefs: Theoretical developments, empirical evidence,
and future directions. Educational Researcher, 33(3), 3–13.
Goddard, R. D., LoGerfo, L., & Hoy, W. K. (2004). High school
accountability: The role of perceived collective efficacy.
Educational Policy, 18(3), 403–425.
4 61
Conclusion
Responsibilities (extent Associated practices
to which the principal …)
At no time in recent memory has the need for effective and
Involvement in Is involved in helping teachers design
inspired leadership been more pressing than it is today. With
curriculum, curricular activities
increasing expectations in society and in the workplace for
instruction, and
knowledgeable, skilled, responsible citizens, the pressure Is involved with teachers to address
assessment: is
instructional issues in their classrooms
on schools intensifies. The importance of truly effective directly involved in the
educational leadership is clear and the time for improving design and implementa- Is involved with teachers to address
schools is short. It is our hope that the Balanced Leadership tion of curriculum, assessment issues
Framework will provide the guidance principals need to instruction, and assess-
ment practices
enhance effectiveness, translate vision and aspirations into
action, and improve achievement for all students. Focus: establishes clear Establishes high, concrete goals and
goals and keeps those expectations that all students meet them
goals in the forefront of
Establishes concrete goals for all
the school’s attention
curriculum, instruction, and assessment
Establishes concrete goals for the general
functioning of the school
Continually keeps attention on
established goals
Knowledge of Is knowledgeable about instructional
curriculum, practices
instruction, and
Is knowledgeable about assessment
assessment: is
practices
knowledgeable about
current curriculum, Provides conceptual guidance for
instruction, and teachers regarding effective classroom
assessment practices practice
Visibility: has quality Makes systematic frequent visits to
contact and interactions classrooms
with teachers and
Maintains high visibility around the
students
school
Has frequent contact with students
60 5
Responsibilities (extent Associated practices They can, however, be developed into purposeful
to which the principal …)
communities through strong and effective leadership.
Contingent Recognizes individuals who excel For this to happen, principals must understand the value
rewards: recognizes and attributes of Purposeful Community, and emphasize
Uses performance versus seniority as
and rewards individual leadership responsibilities in ways that contribute to this
the primary criterion for reward and
accomplishments
development. Without Purposeful Community, it is difficult
advancement
to imagine schools successfully implementing and sustaining
Uses hard work and results as the basis
the changes necessary to prepare all of their students to live
for reward and recognition
and work in an increasingly competitive, fast-paced global
Communication: Is easily accessible to teachers economy. Within a Purposeful Community, it is difficult to
establishes strong lines imagine anything else.
Develops effective means for teachers to
of communication with
communicate with one another
teachers and among
students Maintains open and effective lines of
communication with staff
Outreach: is Assures the school is in compliance with
an advocate and district and state mandates
spokesperson for the
Advocates on behalf of the school in
school to all stakeholders
the community
Advocates for the school with parents
Ensures the central office is aware of the
school’s accomplishments
Input: involves Provides opportunity for input on all
teachers in the design important decisions
and implementation of
Provides opportunities for staff to be
important decisions and
involved in developing school policies
policies
Uses leadership team in decision making
6 59
Leadership Characteristics of purposeful Responsibilities (extent Associated practices
to which the principal …)
responsibilities communities
Affirmation: Systematically and fairly recognizes and
Affirmation: recognizes Attention is given to building on
recognizes and celebrates celebrates accomplishments of teachers
and celebrates school strengths in addition to addressing
school accomplishments
accomplishments and weaknesses – most communities Systematically and fairly recognizes and
and acknowledges
acknowledges failures. focus on weaknesses or needs. celebrates accomplishments of students
failures
Productive communities (and
Systematically acknowledges failures and
organizations) balance their attention
celebrates accomplishments of the school
on needs or weaknesses with a
focus on community strengths Relationship: Remains aware of personal needs of
and the importance of playing to demonstrates an teachers
them. These strengths are among awareness of the
Maintains personal relationships with
the community’s most important personal aspects of
teachers
assets. The principal systematically teachers and staff
and fairly recognizes and celebrates
Is informed about significant personal
accomplishments of teachers, staff,
issues within the lives of staff members
and students. The principal is also
willing to acknowledge failures along Acknowledges significant events in the
with successes. Failures are viewed lives of staff members
as learning opportunities. The
Change agent: is Consciously challenges the status quo
principal reinforces and builds on the
willing to and actively
individual strengths of all community Is comfortable with leading change
challenges the status quo
members. initiatives with uncertain outcomes
Systematically considers new and better
ways of doing things
Generally, schools serve “accidental” communities (Wagner,
Optimize: inspires Inspires teachers to accomplish things
2002). Communities created by political or policy decisions
and leads new and that might seem beyond their grasp
always start as accidental. The nature of how they are created
challenging innovations
Portrays a positive attitude about the
or designated makes them accidental. Members of these
ability of the staff to accomplish
communities do not have a common understanding of what
substantial things
they can only accomplish because they are a community. They
do not have agreed upon ways of working together. They do Is a driving force behind major initiatives
not share knowledge of their tangible and intangible assets.
They have not developed collective efficacy.
58 7