Distributed Leadership for School Improvement in Contexts of Poverty and Education Reform Policies

• In Event: Roundtable Session 56
  In Roundtable Session: Leading for School Improvement

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of leadership distribution in seven primary schools serving low income students in Santiago, Chile. The analysis draws from a case study investigation of school improvement processes. Schools were selected for variation in improvement trajectory (e.g., improving or declining over previous five years). We explore factors that help explain patterns of leadership distribution in the schools associated with the contexts of poverty; education policy reforms that involve new expectations for school performance, new expectations for leadership and new resources for schools in high poverty contexts; and the orientations to school leadership and reform of school personnel. The overarching question is not just how leadership is distributed, but why is it distributed the way it is.

Authors

• Stephen E. Anderson, University of Toronto

• Javiera Marfan, Fundacion Chile

• Magdalena Fernandez Hermosilla, University of Toronto - OISE