Preparing School Leaders: Standards-Based Curriculum in the United States

• In Event: 32.022 - Bridging Educational Leadership and Curriculum Theory/Didaktik for Achieving Educational Opportunity in an Era of Globopolitanism

Abstract

Objectives or purpose. Within a decade of their acceptance by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration (NPBEA), the ISLLC standards had become the de facto national educational leadership standards, and by 2005, 46 states had adopted, adapted, or used the standards to develop their own set of standards (Author Citation, 2014; 2009). This paper has three goals: 1) to share the NELP standards and describe their development, 2) to review and analyze the school leadership literature to determine how well the NELP standards are supported by empirical literature, and 3) to critically assess the influence of standards in shaping the work of leadership preparation providers and future school leaders.

Perspectives or theoretical framework. What is the purpose of educational leadership preparation? Is it to prepare leaders for the world in which they will work, or is it to develop leaders who can think beyond what currently exists and transform education as we know it? In this paper, we draw upon symposium authors’ (2015) argument that there are two dominant sociological perspectives on education and leadership thereof: socialization and transformation.

Methods, techniques or modes of inquiry. The research reported in this article is involves a review, analysis, and mapping of school leadership research to determine the degree to which the NELP standards are supported by research on educational leadership practice and preparation. The first stage of the research review involved establishing a database of published empirical research that reflected the above goals. The second step consisted of examining and coding the research included in the database with regard to their focus and findings. The third step included categorizing the research according to the new NELP standards.

Data sources, evidence, objects, or materials. For this review we examined a wide range of possible sources, including both empirical and conceptual scholarship, in an effort “to identify all potentially relevant studies” (Hallinger, 2010). Scholarship identified through previous reviews of the literature mapping to the ELCC standards provided the starting place for the database of articles that informed this chapter.

Results and/or substantiated conclusions. Drawing on our theoretical framework, we argue that standards-based preparation serves the purpose of socializing rather than educating leaders The NELP standards, which have a strong empirical basis, provide adequate guidance for the preparation of leaders for the world as it currently exists rather than supporting their ability to imagine and create their own futures. We, thus, suggest a set of core propositions for the education of school leaders, propositions intended to expand beyond preparation for socialization to education that encourages critical thinking and reflection.

Scientific or scholarly significance. Just as it is important to develop building level leaders who can effectively lead schools within the current system, it is also important to ensure that leaders are capable of rethinking, reimagining, and transcending the education system as it currently exists.

Authors

• Michelle D. Young, University Council for Educational Administration

• Erin Anderson, University of Denver

• Angel M. Miles Nash, University of Virginia