During the summer the Wallace Foundation released a report showing a direct link between collective, rather than individual, leadership and student achievement. The report found that when principals and teachers share leadership responsibilities students benefit. It is a useful report and clearly identifies things principals can do to positively impact student achievement.Leadership emerged as "second only to classroom instruction" among school factors contributing to student learning. Further the report found that effective leaders find the proper balance between stability and change. "They work to develop and support people to do their best, while working to redesign their organizations to improve effectiveness.
Other findings include:
- Collective leadership has a stronger influence on student learning than any individual source of leadership.
- Teachers in high performing schools attribute greater influence to teacher teams, parents and students.
- While principals and district leaders have great influence on decisions, effective principals encourage others to join in collective leadership.
- Teachers working relationships are stronger, and student achievement higher, when principals and teachers share leadership.
An executive summary of the report can be found athttp://www.wallacefoundation.org/KnowledgeCenter/KnowledgeTopics/CurrentAreasofFocus/EducationLeadership/Documents/Learning-from-Leadership-Investigating-Links-Ex-Summary.pdf, and the full report may be found athttp://www.wallacefoundation.org/KnowledgeCenter/KnowledgeTopics/CurrentAreasofFocus/EducationLeadership/Documents/Learning-from-Leadership-Investigating-Links-Final-Report.pdf.
I'd enjoy hearing from you about your experience with collective leadership and your thoughts about this important report.
