Literacy Leadership in K–5 High-Needs Schools: A Principal's Perceptions

• In Event: 54.080 - Roundtable Session 22
  In Roundtable Session: 54.080-11 - Leadership in High-Poverty Schools

Abstract

In this paper, a K-5 principal’s perceptions of literacy leadership are explored based on his professional background and work in a culturally diverse, high-needs school. Through interview data, the research participant’s views are analyzed to understand how he negotiates his role as a literacy leader. The findings indicate that the principal in this study sought ways to engage teachers in a group dynamic that investigated the relative strengths and weaknesses of the literacy instruction at the school site. Data conversations about informal diagnostic reading assessments provided opportunities for the principal to lead aspects of literacy instruction at the same time that he learned about instructional literacy practices alongside the teachers at the site.

Author

• Janet Lear, University of Denver