Supervision in Context: Instructional Leadership for K–8 Science

• In Event: 72.014 - Leading Across Content: Strategies of Principals and Superintendents

Abstract

Despite the important role school principals play as instructional leaders, there remains much to learn about how principals supervise instruction, particularly across subject areas. This paper focuses on the supervision of K-8 science reform. We conducted case studies of 4 school principals’ supervision of science by shadowing them over 4 months as they incorporated new tools to support their observations and feedback about science. Based on qualitative analysis of observational fieldnotes and interviews, we present key findings about the ways in which principals’ supervision of science was content-neutral, though science-specific tools supported a shift toward noticing and engaging in discourse about the subject matter. We conclude with implications for future research related to supervision in the context of instructional reforms.

Authors

• Rebecca Jane Lowenhaupt, Boston College

• Katherine L. McNeill, Boston College