Distributed leadership according to the evidence

307 Pages·2009·1.59 MB·English

by  Kenneth A. Leithwood

Distributed Leadership
According to the Evidence
Although not new, the concept of distributed (shared) leadership has re-emerged in
recent years as one highly promising response to the complex challenges currently
faced by schools. Responding productively to these challenges far exceeds the capaci-
ties of any individual leader. If schools are to flourish in the future, they will need to
enlist the collective expertise of many more of their members and stakeholders than
they have in the past. The purpose of this volume is to both present and synthesize the
best available evidence about the nature, causes and effects of distributed school
leadership. The book also clarifies common misunderstandings about distributed
leadership and identifies promising implications for practice and for future research.
Key features include:
• Expertise–written by the most active and widely respected scholars engaged
in research on distributed leadership, the book encompasses the very latest
knowledge about the nature, causes and consequences of such leadership in
schools.
• Comparative models–the book compares various approaches to distributed
leadership and examines the conditions under which some approaches may
be better than others in improving schools.
• Evidence-based–much of the popularity of distributed leadership is rooted
in expectations unsupported by systematic empirical evidence. Virtually all
of the available evidence about a distributed approach to leadership can be
found in this book.
This book is appropriate for researchers studying school leadership, instructors and
students in graduate-level school leadership courses and practicing administrators at
the district and buildin g level.
Dr Kenneth Leithwood is Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy at the
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, Canada.
Dr Blair Mascall is Professor of Leadership and Educational Change at the Ontario
Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, Canada.
Dr Tiiu Straussis currently a project director working with Kenneth Leithwood in the
Department of Theory and Policy Studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Edu-
cation at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Distributed Leadership
According to the Evidence
Edited by Kenneth Leithwood,
Blair Mascall, and Tiiu Strauss
First published 2009
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009.
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© 2009 Taylor & Francis
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in
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infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Distributed leadership according to the evidence / edited by Kenneth Leithwood,
Blair Mascall, and Tiiu Strauss.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Educational leadership. 2. School management and organization. I. Leithwood,
Kenneth A. II. Mascall, Blair. III. Strauss, Tiiu.
LB2805.D528 2008
371.2—dc22 2008001573
ISBN 0-203-86853-6 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN10: 0-8058-6422-9 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0-415-99217-6 (pbk)
ISBN10: 1-4106-1857-9 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978-0-8058-6422-9 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-99217-6 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978-1-4106-1857-3 (ebk)
Contents
List of Figures vii
List of Tables ix
List of Contributors xi
Preface xvii
1 New Perspectives on an Old Idea: A Short
History of the Old Idea 1
KENNETH LEITHWOOD, BLAIR MASCALL, AND
TIIU STRAUSS
PART 1
Distributed Leadership: What It Is 15
2 Hybrid Leadership 17
PETER GRONN
3 Distributed Leadership: Paradigms, Policy, and Paradox 41
JOHN MACBEATH
PART 2
How Distributed Leadership Works in Schools and Districts 59
4 Districts, Teacher Leaders, and Distributed Leadership:
Changing Instructional Practice 61
WILLIAM A. FI RESTONE AND M. CECILIA MARTINEZ
5 School Principals at Work: A Distributed Perspective 87
JAMES P. SPILLANE, ERIC M. CAMBURN, AND
AMBER STITZIEL PAREJA
6 Positioning the Principals in Patterns of School Leadership
Distribution 111
STEPHEN E. ANDERSON, SHAWN MOORE, AND
JINGPING SUN
7 “A Job Too Big For One”: Multiple Principals and Other
Non-Traditional Approaches to School Leadership 137
W. NORTON GRUBB AND JOSEPH J. FLESSA
vi • Contents
PART 3
Explaining the Effects of Distributed Leadership 165
8 Conceptualizing Distributed Leadership as a School Reform:
Revisiting Job Redesign Theory 167
DAVID MAYROWETZ, JOSEPH MURPHY,
KAREN SEASHORE LOUIS, AND MARK A. SMYLIE
9 Distributing Leadership to Improve Outcomes for Students 197
HELEN S. TIMPERLEY
10 Distributing Leadership to Make Schools Smarter: Taking
the Ego Out of the System 223
KENNETH LEITHWOOD, BLAIR MASCALL,
TIIU STRAUSS, ROBIN SACKS, NADEEM MEMON,
AND ANNA YASHKINA
11 Distributed Leadership and Knowledge Creation 253
ALMA HARRIS
PART 4
What We Have Learned and Where We Go From Here 267
12 What We Have Learned and Where We Go From Here 269
KENNETH LEITHWOOD, BLAIR MASCALL, AND
TIIU STRAUSS
Index 283
Figures
3.1 Six Forms of Leadership Distribution 45
5.1 Variance in Principal’s Co-Leaders by Activity Type 101
8.1. Hackman and Oldham’s Job Characteristics Model (1980) 170
8.2 Distributed Leadership as Work Redesign 174
11.1 A Model of Distributed Leadership Practice 258

Tables
4.1 School Sample 66
4.2 Teacher Leaders’ Tasks as Perceived by Teachers 75
5.1 Activities Principal Was Engaged in According to ESM 90
5.2 Percent Agreement Between ESM and Shadower Data 92
5.3 Principal Time According to ESM 96
5.4 Who Led Activities When Principal Was Not Leading 97
5.5 Principal’s Co-Leaders 99
5.6 Percent of Time Principal Leading and Leading Alone
Instruction and Curriculum Activities by Subject 101
6.1 Sample School Characteristics 115
6.2 Collective Leadership Scores from Teacher Survey 116
7.1 Summary of Schools Examined 140
9.1 Research-Related Activities 200
9.2 Percentage of Meeting Time Spent in Different Activities During
Years 1 and 2 Combined 202
9.3 Average Percent of Time Spent in Different Activities in the
Group 1 and Group 2 Schools in Year 3 202
9.4 Number of Children (n), Mean Reading Scores (M) and Standard
Deviations (SD) for Each School for Baseline and Years 1 to 3 204
10.1 Leadership Functions of Non-Administrator School Leaders,
Formal School Leaders, and District Leaders 242–243
10.2 Characteristics of Nominated Non-Administrator Leaders 245