A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Summary and Conclusion

Effective leadership is the forgotten imperative of education reform. Good leaders can create the vision and climate that encourages everyone in the system to reach higher and accomplish more, while inept leaders can stop promising reforms in their tracks. The OERI Leadership Policy Forum identified several issues and actions that could help the nation develop more effective educational leaders. The main messages of the Forum are summarized as follows:

The jobs of school superintendents, principals, and school board members are changing dramatically with reforms in education and changes in society. Today's schools demand new kinds of skills and knowledge from education leaders, including skills that many current leaders have not mastered. Chief among these is instructional leadership?the ability to recognize and foster good teaching and high-level learning. Management skills are another area of change; today's complex school environments and diverse communities require greater skills in communication, collaboration, and community building.

Successful districts around the country are testing new models of leadership that bring together superintendents, principals, and teachers to do cross-role work on improving instruction. These models help people learn to give and receive instructional feedback, and some even base accountability on improved teaching and learning. In several districts, principals and superintendents are also forming collegial networks, or ``critical friends" groups, in which they evaluate each other and improve together.

Neither organized professional development programs nor formal preparation programs are adequately preparing leaders to meet their new job demands. Some newer effective models for preparation and professional development give people practical opportunities to build instructional leadership and other important skills in real school contexts. In these approaches, current and potential leaders learn by observing and evaluating effective leaders. They also work on real problems encountered in an actual school or district. Professional development is controlled by the participants, rather than "delivered" from outside.

Many school districts are having trouble finding qualified leadership candidates. At the same time, many people with potential to be good leaders are finding these positions less attractive because of the unreasonable demands they entail. Some school districts are trying to "grow their own" leaders by identifying potential principals in their own districts and giving them structured opportunities to build their expertise. But another critical part of the equation is to reduce the administrative overload on leaders, so the job can be done by people who are competent but not superheroes.

Researchers, policymakers, and leaders at the local, state, and national local levels have key roles to play in building effective leaders. State policymakers, to cite just a few examples, could overhaul administrator preparation and certification, stop funding ineffective preparation programs, and support new modes of professional development. National leaders could establish a high-powered commission to develop systemic strategies for leadership reform. Local policymakers, as well as principals and superintendents, could revise their policies for professional development, hiring, and accountability and could adopt incentives for people to try more creative and effective approaches to leadership.

If education reform is going to succeed, the nation cannot wait long to make the changes in educational leadership discussed in this report. The ideas in this document can be a starting point for action.

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[ What Are the Implications for Policy? ]

[ Participants in the Policy Forum on Educational Leadership ]