Instructional Leadership What did the author say?

Halverson, Grigg, Prichett & Thomas (2005) propose in their article, presented before the National Council of Professors Educational Administration, a new analytic framework for understanding instructional leadership. The authors propose that educational leadership is a dynamic process, one that cannot be manipulated through one answer alone. Rather, the authors propose that education is as dynamic as the world itself. Students are diverse. They require complex systems because they are complex systems. The authors consider how leaders in the educational system work with teachers to build data-driven instructional systems or DDIS; they do this as proposed by the authors, by creating programs that use existing school functions and activities. In doing so, information flow is promoted throughout the school.

What does the author mean?

The authors suggest that the flow of information is vital to student achievement. In the past random acts were used to measure student achievement including "ceaseless scrutinizing of tests, quizzes and writing samples." These were used to evaluate what students did not know. A better approach however, may be to assess what children do know. Many schools are beginning to understand what factors are more critical to analyze including attendance, how valuable small class size is, and the value of community outreach programs. Community outreach programs are invaluable to schools. As the authors point out, data-drive leadership is a new approach that doesn't require simply the use of data; rather it is a "challenge for leaders to reshape central practices and cultures in school, to act intentionally to new kinds of problems."

This can only be accomplished...

When this system is in place, a school or community of schools can act not simply internally, but also externally. Then, educational facilities also become parts of the community, and instructional practices become embedded into communities where they become accountable to their communities. Ideally this can be a system that leaders and educators can access to acquire information about students, achievements, gaps in learning and other factors that are essential to the well-being of growth and achievement. A data system is something educational leaders should feel comfortable making public to the community at large. Leaders must work in collaboration with student educators to facilitate this process. Typically implementation of a data flow system will require a "system" or in this article a six-step "cycle" that involves the acquisition of a data management system, alignment of the system with the old data management system, feedback and testing of the system to see how well information flows within the educational community.
How does this information contribute to your understanding of instructional leadership?

Instructional leadership has as much to do with growth, change, and technology as it does with personalization of education toward student goals, skills, abilities and learning styles. In the past, the principal was considered the instructional leader; everyone was to model their example from the principal. Today, everyone has a chance to be instructional leaders, as everyone can learn from everyone. The principal can still "manage" the system, but that doesn't mean that sole instructional leadership is the responsibility of the principal alone. There is more…