What Do Principals and Superintendents Know About Leadership Practices? Critical, Challenging, and Priority as Reflections of New Policies

• In Event: 33.079 - Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: 33.079-7 - Variables That Influence School Climate: Collective Trust, Inclusivity, and Critical Leadership

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present current field knowledge on effective leadership practices and challenges of school and district leaders. New educational reforms dramatically reshape their work as they support reform implementation, while national research studies underscore the leadership practices essential to school improvement. This paper presents findings from a comparative analysis of two parallel surveys of national samples of principals and superintendents. The findings show that school and district leaders agree with the emphasis of state and national reforms that critical leadership practices should be focused on instructional improvement. They are less able to devote the time to these areas, because of the persistent demands and are challenged in trying to promote educational quality under financial constraints.

Author

• Margaret Terry Orr, Bank Street College of Education