Successful School Leadership: Planning, Politics, Performance, and Power (Peabody College Education Leadership Series)

by Guthrie, James W.; Schuermann, Patrick J.

• ISBN13: 9780205469994
• ISBN10: 020546999X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-01-12
• Publisher: SCHOLG

Summary

The introductory volume in the Peabody Educational Leadership Series,Successful School Leadesrhipprovides readers with a solid overview of the primary topics that current and aspiring leaders will be faced with when making decisions regarding education organizations. Blending leadership theory and practice, this foundational leadership text provides cutting edge content in each of the key domains of responsibility facing current and aspiring school leaders while weaving case studies, current media articles, and reflection point into each chapter to enhance student synthesis and application. The book is divided into four frames of reference for optimal learning: Planning, Politics, Performance, and Power - the functions with which educational leaders must continually grapple. In each section, readers are presented with information about what school leaders need to know to successfully surmount the modern challenges to education and instruction. Section one provides a foundation for the book by discussing the evolving context of educational leadership and proposes a strategic orientation to leading educational organizations through continual cycles of appraisal, analysis and action. Section two delves into the important issues of governance, politics, finance and law as major contributors to the context of education, and as levers by which school leaders can shape institutions. Section three explores the various ways in which school leaders can assess and enhance the performance of their schools and educational organizations. The final section of text provides students with information about educational leader strategies in the development of people, partnering with communities, and uses of power, while the final two chapters give practical insights into the preparation for practicing strategic education leadership.

Author Biography

James W. Guthrie is a professor of public policy and education, chair of the leadership, policy and organization department, and director of the Peabody Center for Education Policy at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University.  He instructs both undergraduate and graduate courses and conducts research on education policy, educator compensation, leadership and school finance. Guthrie is the author of ten books, and more than 200 professional and scholarly articles. He was the editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of American Education, published in 2002.

 

Patrick J. Schuermann is a research assistant professor of educational leadership and public policy and director of technical assistance for the Center for Educator Compensation Reform at the Peabody College of Vanderbilt University.  A former middle school teacher and leader, Patrick conducts research on teacher quality and school leadership issues, with an emphasis on professional development and compensation.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Planning for Change: Understanding Strategic Leadership	p. 1
The Evolving Context of Leadership: What Strategic Leadership is and Why it is Needed Now	p. 13
Looking Back: A Historical Note	p. 16
Evolving Contextual Details	p. 20
Strategic Leadership: What it is and Why it is Now Needed	p. 26
What a Strategic Leader is Not	p. 29
Strategic Leadership in an Organizational Context	p. 33
Theoretical Views of Organizations and their Import for a Strategic Leader	p. 34
Leadership Theories and Styles	p. 39
The Idea of Strategic Leadership	p. 44
Combining Appraisal and Action	p. 45
Planning Operational Details	p. 51
What is Strategic Planning?	p. 52
Impact of Politics on Goal Setting and Strategic Planning	p. 55
Key Considerations in the Planning Process	p. 58
Politics: Policy Knowledge Needed By Strategic Leaders	p. 69
Governance	p. 76
The Seemingly Seamless Spectrum of Schooling Stakeholders	p. 76
Scale and Scope of U.S. Schooling	p. 78
Constitutional Underpinnings of Education's Complexity and Diversity	p. 86
Informal Centralization	p. 88
Structure of States for Governing Education	p. 89
General Government and Education	p. 89
Politics and Education Policy Issues	p. 99
Illustrating How Policy Matters for Education Leaders	p. 100
Explaining the Formation of Policy	p. 104
Policy, Public Policy, Education Policy, and a Policy System Paradigm	p. 105
Cultures of Policy	p. 110
Inside the "Modern" Education Reform Policy Paradigm	p. 112
Finance	p. 116
Providing Strategic Leaders with the Finance Knowledge they Need	p. 118
Education Finance Operational Magnitude	p. 119
Generating and Distributing State and Federal Education Revenues	p. 122
Allocating Resources Productively in and Education Organization	p. 126
What is Wrong with this (Financial) Picture?	p. 129
Possible Explanations for the Financial Accounting Status QUO	p. 132
So What if Things were Different?	p. 133
Likely Future Context of Education Finance	p. 134
Law	p. 138
Conventions, Constitutions, Cases, Courtrooms, and Classrooms	p. 139
Protecting (and Sometimes Restricting) Students Rights	p. 151
Protecting (and Sometimes Restricting) Employee Rights	p. 157
Performance: What a Strategic Leader Needs to Know Regarding Knowing	p. 163
Learning	p. 171
Importance of Instructional Time	p. 172
Significance of Specifying What is to be Learned	p. 176
Instructional Program Alignment	p. 177
Learning Theories	p. 181
Dimensions of Knowledge	p. 184
Implication of Brain-Based Learning Theory and Cognitive Science For Learning Environments	p. 186
What do we Expect Student to be Able to do with What they Learn?	p. 190
How Should Students be Motivated to Learn?	p. 192
What is the Role of the Teacher in the Learning Process?	p. 194
Cultural Diversity and Instructional Environments	p. 196
Programs	p. 201
Forces Influencing School Programs in the United States	p. 202
Perspectives on Assessing the Quality and Alignment of State standards	p. 213
Approaches to Enhancing School Programs	p. 225
Intersection of K-12 Programs and Postsecondary Education	p. 225
Performance	p. 233
Assessing the Performance of Students	p. 234
Assessment of Leadership Performance	p. 240
Assessing School Performance	p. 246
Value-Added Performance Measures	p. 248
National and International Assessments of Education Performance	p. 250
Data-Based Decision Making	p. 263
Strategic Approaches to Decision Making in Education	p. 264
Systematic Collection and Use of School Data	p. 267
Analyzing Data Integral to School Effectiveness	p. 278
Analyzing Data Integral to School Efficiency	p. 288
Power: The Application of Strategic Leadership	p. 291
Power: Decision Making and Implementation	p. 297
Important Definitions and Distinctions	p. 298
People	p. 312
People and School Success	p. 313
Profiling America's Educators	p. 315
Compensating America's Educators	p. 317
Compensation Reform Possibilities	p. 323
Selecting Teachers, Administrators, and Others	p. 332
Professional Development	p. 335
Teacher Evaluation	p. 338
Partnering Schools with parents and Communities	p. 347
Theoretical and Empirical Research Considerations	p. 347
Strategically Linking Family and Community to Student Performance	p. 352
Practical Considerations in Linking Schools to Their Communities	p. 353
Collecting Data on Community Involvement	p. 357
Developing Strategic Community Partnerships	p. 359
Practicing Strategic Leadership	p. 372
Shaping One's Leadership Style	p. 373
Constructing Professional Philosophies	p. 377
Setting Performance Priorities	p. 378
Communicating Purposes, Creating Impressions, Confronting Conflict	p. 387
Leader Ethics and Consistent Behavior	p. 390
Unsung Significance of Predictable Leader Behavior	p. 391
Preparing to be a Strategic Education Leader	p. 395
Positive Trajectory of Education Leadership as a Profession	p. 396
Multiple Challenges of Twenty-First-Century Education Leadership	p. 396
The Path of Leadership is Evolving	p. 399
Great Demand for Leaders, and New Leaders, in Education	p. 400
Leading, Learning, and Implementing Policy: The New Professional Practitioner Paradigm	p. 400
Career Preparation Changes Necessitated by Strategic Leadership	p. 401
Educational Leader Remuneration	p. 406
Paths to Professional Leadership Positions	p. 408
Appendix Significant Education Finance Court Decisions	p. 415
Glossary	p. 417
Index	p. 433
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