Linking Leadership to Student Learning

Linking Leadership to Student Learning Linking Leadership to Student Learning clearly shows how school leadership improves student achievement. The book is based on an ambitious five-year study on educational leadership that was sponsored by The Wallace Foundation. The authors studied 43 districts, across 9 states and 180 elementary, middle, and secondary schools. In this book, Kenneth Leithwood, Karen Seashore Louis, and their colleagues report on what they found. They examined leadership at each organizational level in the school system classroom, school, district, community, and state. Their comprehensive approach to investigating school leadership offers a balanced understanding of how the structures within which leaders operate shape what they do. The results within will have significant implications for future policy and practice. Praise for Linking Leadership to Student Learning "e;Kenneth Leithwood and Karen Seashore Louis offer a seminal new contribution to the leadership field. They provide a rich and authoritative evidence base that demonstrates clearly just why school leadership is so important and how it promotes successful student learning."e; PAMELA SAMMONS, Ph.D., Professor of Education, Department of Education, University of Oxford, Oxford "e;This ambitious, groundbreaking, and thought provoking treatment of the link between school leadership and student learning is a testament to the outstanding work of these exemplary scholars. This is a 'must read' for academics and practitioners alike."e; MARTHA McCARTHY, President's Professor, Loyola Marymount University, and Chancellor's Professor Emeritus, Indiana University "e;The question is no longer whether school and district leader's impact student learning, but rather how they do it. The authors provide a convincing answer, one that recognizes the crucial interaction between leader and locality."e; DANIEL L. DUKE, Professor of Educational Leadership, University of Virginia

Linking Leadership to Student LearningLinking Leadership to Student Learning clearly shows how school leadership improves student achievement. The book is based on an ambitious five-year study on educational leadership that was sponsored by The Wallace Foundation. The authors studied 43 districts, across 9 states and 180 elementary, middle, and secondary schools. In this book, Kenneth Leithwood, Karen Seashore Louis, and their colleagues report on what they found. They examined leadership at each organizational level in the school system--classroom, school, district, community, and state. Their comprehensive approach to investigating school leadership offers a balanced understanding of how the structures within which leaders operate shape what they do. The results within will have significant implications for future policy and practice.Praise for Linking Leadership to Student Learning"Kenneth Leithwood and Karen Seashore Louis offer a seminal new contribution to the leadership field. They provide a rich and authoritative evidence base that demonstrates clearly just why school leadership is so important and how it promotes successful student learning."PAMELA SAMMONS, Ph.D., Professor of Education, Department of Education, University of Oxford, Oxford"This ambitious, groundbreaking, and thought provoking treatment of the link between school leadership and student learning is a testament to the outstanding work of these exemplary scholars. This is a 'must read' for academics and practitioners alike."MARTHA McCARTHY, President's Professor, Loyola Marymount University, and Chancellor's Professor Emeritus, Indiana University"The question is no longer whether school and district leader's impact student learning, but rather how they do it. The authors provide a convincing answer, one that recognizes the crucial interaction between leader and locality."DANIEL L. DUKE, Professor of Educational Leadership, University of Virginia

Figures and Tables ixAcknowledgments xiiiAbout the Authors xvAbout the Contributors xviiForeword xixMichael S. KnappPreface xxiii1 Leadership and Learning: The Critical Connection 1Part One: School Leadership That Matters for Students 92 Collective Leadership: The Reality of Leadership Distribution Within the School Community 11Kenneth Leithwood and Doris Jantzi3 Shared and Instructional Leadership: When Principals and Teachers Successfully Lead Together 25Karen Seashore Louis and Kyla Wahlstrom4 Distributed Leadership in Action: A Complex Pattern of People, Tasks, and Goals 42Stephen E. Anderson5 Core Practices: The Four Essential Components of the Leader's Repertoire 57Kenneth Leithwood6 An Up-Close View of Instructional Leadership: A Grounded Analysis 68Kyla WahlstromPart Two: The Broad and Unique Role of Districts in the School Improvement Business 877 How to Harness Family and Community Energy: The District's Role 89Molly F. Gordon and Karen Seashore Louis8 Confidence for School Improvement: A Priority for Principals 107Kenneth Leithwood, Blair Mascall, and Doris Jantzi9 Principal Efficacy: District-Led Professional Development 119Kenneth Leithwood, Stephen E. Anderson, and Karen Seashore Louis10 Succession: A Coordinated Approach to Leadership Distribution 142Blair Mascall and Kenneth Leithwood11 Data Use: An Exploration from the District to the School 158Stephen E. Anderson, Kenneth Leithwood, and Karen Seashore Louis12 The "District Difference": A New Perspective on the Local Challenges for Improvement 181Stephen E. Anderson and Karen Seashore Louis13 Case Studies: District Responses to State Leadership 203Karen Seashore Louis, Stephen E. Anderson, and Emanda ThomasConclusion 227Appendix A: Scale Reliability for Variables 237Appendix B: Additional Evidence Related to Chapter Seven 241Notes 247References 257Index 275