Data-driven instructional systems and school leadership effectiveness

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.

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 to a community than simply the principal leader. Owens (2001) notes that in the clamor for school reform there is a great need for school leaders to understand what is known about the organization and organizational behavior.. Leaders including principals and their administrators have to understand what the political realities are in their community, and those centered on their work, experience and their personal views with relationship to the organization they work for. While they may disagree with some of the principals of instructional leadership, they still need to examine assumptions, beliefs, and behaviors in their school to bring about change and improvement. Learning educators and leaders have to take into consideration the flow of knowledge into their specific learning institution. This knowledge may complement the knowledge of other learning educational institutions throughout the community.

This feat has traditionally been accomplished through paper collection and files, and traditional simple computer services. However, just as corporations use complex data management systems, so too should educational facilities manage the flow of knowledge in their facilities, so students, teachers and administrators can best use the resources they already have on hand to serve students. Educational and instructional leadership can benefit many ways by doing this, even in the way of conserving resources and saving in the way of budgetary resources.

This article showed that there is no one "primary reason, silver bullet" or magic answer to explain gains in instructional leadership or programming. Rather, it is the combination of factors that result in "broad improvements" in student achievement and learning. This is a critical fact; it is critical that leaders understand that there are many factors built into the educational system that when, designed to work together will help develop complex and effect instructional systems. A data collection system can help analyze these factors so that education can work together and develop the best possible systems from which to develop effective students (Barth, 1991).

All students learn differently; thus it makes sense that educators will have to consider the various different students, their capabilities, and what they bring to the table before they can develop effective outlines of what will work in the classroom. Undoubtedly some things will have to be tested, retested and then tested again. Some things will work, some won't and some may have to be adapted before the best possible system can be worked out. Hoerr (2008) notes that instructional leadership must involve adoption of processes including teachers observing each other, pushing each other, and asking each other what processes students are excelling in, struggling with, and adapting to. In this way the classroom and educational environment becomes a community environment where greater learning for everyone is facilitated.

References:

Barth, R.S. 1991. Improving schools from within. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Halverson, R., Grigg, J., Prichett, R. & Thomas, C. 2005. The new instructional leadership:

Creating data-driven instructional systems in schools. NCPEA, University of Wisconsin. Retrieved: http://www.academiccolab.org/resources/documents/HalversonGriggPrichettThomas%20NCPEA.pdf

Hoerr, T.R. 2008 Jan. What is instructional leadership. Information Assessment, Vol. 65, No.4,

pp. 84-85.

Owens, R.G. 2001. Organizational behaviors in education: Instructional leadership and school reform. Seventh Edition. Allyn & Bacon: Pearson Education Company.