The Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions of the School Leaders Who Support Highly Effective Teachers

• In Event: How Highly Effective Teachers Create Equitable Educational Opportunities for Historically Marginalized Youth

Abstract

When school principals are asked to identify highly effective teachers (HETs) on their campuses, they immediately identify teachers whose students score higher than other students on standardized tests; whose students and parents rate them highly; whose colleagues hold them in high regard; whose administrators consider them successful; and whose university supervisors regard them as superior. During interviews of HETs, the teachers were asked to speak about the support they received from their school administrators. A key contribution in the success of these highly effective teachers was the support they received from their school leaders. This study looks at the decisions school principals make when supporting/inspiring teachers identified as highly effective. Principals from Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino counties in Southern California shared how they supported teachers who had been identified as highly effective. We wanted to know: what did they do to keep their HETs enthusiastic and motivated? Do the principals provide the financial and human resources for their teachers to be highly effective? Do they collaborate with the HETs on curriculum and instructional strategies that will best support students’ learning styles and ability levels? Do they provide immediate feedback to teachers after an observation so that teachers can reflect on their instructional delivery? Interviews and surveys of principals yielded key concepts they use in supporting HETs that lead to increased student achievement. Results from the interviews and surveys reveal that school leaders want their HETs to be influential in the school. Therefore, principals send them to professional development conferences, provide them with professional literature; recruit them to be on instructional leadership teams; encourage them to be the leaders of their professional learning communities; and sometimes, school leaders step aside and let the HETs “do their thing.” As one principal stated
Mrs. X is exceptional! I never try to step in and tell her how to instruct her students. If it ain’t broke, I won’t fix it. Instead, I focus my efforts on other teachers who need assistance while still finding ways to support Mrs. X.

Knowing and utilizing these key leadership concepts can help all principals improve their support of highly effective teachers, which in turn may increase their HETs’ ability to positively influence other staff. Incorporating these key concepts could potentially generate an increase in highly effective teachers on school campuses and subsequent increased student achievement.

Author

• Kim Monique Hall, Fontana Unified School District