Instructional Leadership in the Era of No Child Left Behind: Perspectives From the United States

• In Event: School Leadership in the Context of Standards-Based Reform: International Perspectives

Abstract

As one of the most ambitious educational initiatives in United States, No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) is rooted in a long-standing ideological commitment to equal opportunity for all its citizens. The reforms introduced into the Elementary and Secondary Education Act by NCLB fundamentally changed the way that states and districts approach the challenge of educating all students to achieve high standards (Center on Educational Policy, 2008). Terms such as “accountability,” “adequate yearly progress,” and “highly qualified” have become more prevalent in the national vernacular (Chrismer, Hodge, & Saintil, 2006; Hershberg, Simon, & Lea-Kruger, 2004). Advocates, adversaries, pundits and proponents, have engaged in discourse for the last decade around NCLB and its system of accountability (i.e., high expectations, ambitious deadlines, public reporting, and the threat of serious consequences for schools that fail to comply with the policy mandates) (Berliner, 2005). As pressure for improving student achievement in the accountability environment continues to intensify and test results are scrutinized with unprecedented attention, school leaders are urged to focus their leadership efforts on the core purpose of schooling - teaching and learning (Huffman, Pankake, Munoz, 2007; Supovitz & Poglinco, 2001). Based on the discourse coupled with numerous research reports (e.g., Anderson, 2005; Cizek, 2009; Devito, 2010; Popham, 2004; Supovitz, 2009), NCLB has moved accountability for student performance to the forefront of the nation’s consciousness.

Set within the NCLB policy context of American education, this primary purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of assessment and standards-based reform on instructional leadership. The authors contend that improved assessments begin with school leaders who can assess achievement effectiveness and have the knowledge and skill that support effective instruction. They draw from a review of extant literature and various reports issued in the public domain between 2008-2010 by the US Department of Education in an effort to demonstrate how leadership for effective teaching and learning - not just by the principal but by a wider cast of individuals in both formal and informal leadership roles - plays a critical role in reinforcing instructional improvement and instructional quality that lead to accountability and improved student achievement.

Among the significant reforms to be discussed are the four areas of focus around President Barack Obama’s Blueprint for Reform, including: (1) improving school effectiveness to ensure that every classroom has a great teacher and every school has a great leader; (2) providing information to families to help evaluate and improve schools, and to educators to help improve student learning; (3) implementing college- and career-ready standards and developing improved assessments aligned with those standards; and, (4) increase student achievement in America’s lowest-performing schools by providing intensive support and effective interventions (US DoE, 2010). Finally, the authors discuss the impact of New Regulations for Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act, as outlined by the U Department of Education (2008) including: establishing a uniform and more accurate measure of calculating high school graduation rate; supplementing educational services requirements; and increasing accountability and transparency (U.S. DoE, 2008).

Authors

• Anthony H. Normore, California Lutheran University

• Jeffrey S. Brooks, University of Idaho