Volume & Complexity, Effectiveness & Efficiency Revised Fall 2012

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...” Charles Dickens

Indeed, Charles Dickens’ characterization of an earlier, European revolutionary period might well be applied to urgent pressures facing our educational systems. The understanding and support required for the delivery of “global” and “digital” competencies, that will meet or exceed the needs of our society and our students, bring significant challenges for educational leaders, policy makers and parents. Outdated system structures further restrict possible innovative solutions.

Although formidable, the challenges facing education are not insurmountable. Never before have we had at our command such extensive and effective resources, both human and technological, for dealing with educational challenges. Emerging visions for the evolution of education need to be seen in the context of the intense complexity of the framework which currently defines the roles and responsibi l i t ies of educational leaders. Research has indicated educational leadership provided by principals and vice-principals is a key factor impacting student achievement. Factors contributing to an alienation of “leadership” that inh ib i t an ab i l i ty to be responsive to educational needs, require deeper understandings and meaningful resolutions.

The dynamic nature of the “Leadership - Management” continuum requires a significant r e f l e c t i o n a n d a n a l y s i s . Leadership and Management are inextricably intertwined in a symbiotic type of relationship. However, it is the myriad of the day to day demands, responsibilities and issues that threaten to dominate the balance of the continuum. Thus, the volume and complexity of challenges facing principals and vice-principals will often come at the expense of “Leadership”, ultimately having a negative impact upon student achievement. The volume and complexity associated with the roles of the principal and vice-principal have become such that the effectiveness with which leadership can be consistently demonstrated is being compromised.

Dimensions of Education

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Volume & Complexity as it pertains to Effectiveness & Efficiency

What has been said:

Prospective and aspiring principals are dissuaded from seeking positions by the increasingly intense and complex work of principals.

(Gronn, 2002; Cranston, Ehrich, & Billot, 2003; Miller, 2004; The Wallace Foundation, 2003; Hewitt, Pijanowski, Carmine, & Denny, 2008)

Principals and Vice-Principals “are drowning under the weight of initiative fatigue - attempting to use the same amount of time, money, and emotional energy to accomplish more and more objectives......... eventually, each initiative added to the pile creates a dramatic decline in organizational effectiveness.”

(Reeves, 2006)

The volexity associated with the role of the Principal and Vice-Principal inhibit an ability to readily find meaningful and necessary balance between the urgent, the important, and the essential, thereby further promoting ‘leadership alienation’.

(Krische, 2012)

The myriad of requirements, policy changes, antiquated collective agreements, ever-intensifying mandates, compliance expectations.... exceed the leadership capacity in a time where it is perhaps most necessary.....

(Harris, 2008)

“The role of the principal is pivotal to systemic school change.......”

(Fullan, 2003)

Over 25 years of research on effective schools has underscored the central role that school leaders play in creating the conditions and norms necessary for supporting high levels of student achievement.

(Walters, Marzano & McNulty, 2003)

Explicit and focused support for leadership work was intrinsic to learning-focused leadership.

(Centre for the Future of Teaching and Learning, 2011)

The Current Context...

The literature acknowledges the significant challenges of, and makes references to, the sheer magnitude of the role of the principal. Inherent within the research are fundamental understandings that reveal the association between the volume and complexities of the role and the ability to meaningfully target the highest levels of student achievement.

Volume & Complexity as it pertains to Effectiveness & Efficiency

Key points of reflection....

What is also understood.....

Principals devoting significant time and energy to becoming instructional leaders in their schools are unlikely to see improvement unless they increase their capacity for ‘organizational management’ as well. Loeb, S., & Grissom, J; 2009

In order for principals to devote more time and attention to the improvement of instruction, their jobs will need to be substantially redesigned. Leithwood, Louis et el.; 2010

School leadership has a greater influence on schools and students when it is widely distributed. NCSL, 2006

There is a strong correlation between effective leaders and student achievement.

Bottoms & Schmidt-Davis, 2010

Successful transition from one leader to another is a critical but neglected dimension of sustainable improvement. Barker, 2006

• How does outstanding leadership capacity at the school based level benefit student achievement?

• What are the major challenges facing those in vice principal, principal or district principal leadership roles?

• What is the nature of current support for development and/or enhancement of leadership attributes and capacities within your district?

• What leadership attributes does your district (school, community, province, post secondary) currently value? What is being done to define the leadership attributes that will be essential for leadership in the future?

• What steps are being taken to plan and prepare for leadership succession?

Volume & Complexity as it pertains to Effectiveness & Efficiency

Key Questions guiding successful responsiveness to VCEE challenges:

Leading Schools Effectively and Efficiently

• How do we maintain focus on what is essential to increasing student achievement?

• How do we determine the essential leadership responsibilities and practices?

• How do we distinguish between what is urgent, important and what is essential?

Educational Leadership

• What is the process in place to identify effective strategies that ensure Education Leadership remains at the forefront of thinking, planning and doing at the individual, school-based, district and provincial levels?

• What types of networks and/or resources exist or are necessary in support of the leadership challenges?

• How do we build and develop sustainability in educational leadership?

Leading with Balance

• How can I create some boundaries so that my personal life is not overwhelmed by my professional demands and obligations?

• How do I maintain focus on professional growth and engagement in my learning to best support the leadership challenges?

Proactive Advocacy

• How can we share what we know from current research about the importance of the role of principals & vice-principals in improving student achievement?

• How can we advocate using this information as a framework for determining the priorities of our responsibilities as educational leaders?

• How do we best plan for inclusion of collaborative time for educational leadership?

• How do we engage in systemic analysis that will allow for a sharpened focus upon student achievement?

“Leadership is not defined by the exercise of power but by the capacity to increase the sense of power among those led. The most essential work of the leader is to create more leaders.”

Mary Parker Follett, The Creative Experience, 1924

Volume & Complexity as it pertains to Effectiveness & Efficiency

Towards the answers.......

Challenges associated with volume & complexity issues inherent in the role of vice-principals, principals and district principals require an urgent, intentional, collective and integrative responsiveness from all levels of the educational system.

Recommendations:

• Education about the impact of volume and complexity challenges on “excellence in education” and the “achievement levels” of students will need to be shared at all levels of the educational system. The key questions articulated in the previous pages provide guidelines to frame thinking around these challenges.

• Post-secondary programs for prospective administrators require focus upon skill sets that support and facilitate attainment of a necessary balance of the ‘Leadership - Management - Personal’ continuum. This includes exploration of organizational management strategies that distinguish the essential focal points from the important. Support for the development of skill sets facilitating the emergence of a strong distributed leadership network is essential (in particular within schools and districts).

• School district partnership in professional learning which fosters a strong distributed leadership network is of paramount importance. School districts will need to role-model and support the ability to identify the essential work to be done and to determine those matters which can be “taken off the table”. Systemic operational structures that are outdated and that impede educational leadership initiatives require immediate reform. “Bigger picture” problem solving and analytical capabilities require additional support.

• Current longer term school district strategic plans often acknowledge human resource challenges but could benefit from the development of an enhanced vision around succession planning. A collaborative effort to promote meaningful succession plans within a district should become a priority for action.

• Investment in instructional leadership development at the school and district level is necessary. Pro-active long-term efforts to build ‘leadership capacity’ within the current realities of the volume and complexity challenges will yield positive outcomes. Collaborative opportunities in this area are essential foundational elements that will support the development of the necessary vision in this area.

• The Ministry of Education would benefit from carefully examining systemic structures and strategic initiatives that further contribute to the challenges associated with volume & complexity issues. Systemic support and direction for the development and growth of necessary leadership attributes must emerge as a key focal point.

• Professional Growth Plans for vice-principals and principals should include emphasis upon growth of leadership domain proficiencies, in particular those with universal themes that impact all levels of the education system.

February 25, 2011 Volume VII

Research LinksØ Bottoms, G., & Schmidt-Davis, J., (2010). The Three Essentials: Improving Schools Requires

District Vision, District and State Support and Principal Leadership. Southern Regional Education Board (www.sreb.org). An effort to pinpoint the key leadership factors that improve student achievement and increase the number of high school graduates.

Ø Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning. (2011). School Leadership: A Key to Teaching Quality (A Policy Brief on the Role of Principals in Strengthening Instruction). Santa Cruz, CA: Author. (www.cftl.org) Reaffirms, discusses and reviews the important role(s) that the principal has on student learning, particularly as it relates to the current fiscal and political challenges.

Ø Fullan, M. (2008). What’s Worth Fighting For in the Principalship? Toronto, ONT: OPC. Ø Grissom, J., & Loeb, S. (2009). Triangulating Principal Effectiveness: How Perspectives of Parents,

Teachers, and Assistant Principals Identify the Central Importance of Managerial Skills. Stanford, CA: Stanford University. Study of principals’ own assessment of their efficacy on a set of 42 tasks common to the profession (with links to outcomes).

Ø Grubb, S. & Waters, T., (2004). Leading Schools: Distinguishing the Essential from the Important. Aurora, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning. Summary of findings from 30 year meta-analysis of research on school leadership. Provides a focus on the essential elements of the principalship that is associated with student achievement. (www.mcrel.org)

Ø Hargreaves, A. & Shirley, D., (2009). The Fourth Way: the Inspiring Future for Educational Change. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press. Challenging our current thinking around educational change with a resonating argument for collective courage, leadership and professionalism in engaging the immense tasks facing change in education.

Ø Knapp, M., Copland, M., et el., (2010). Learning-focused Leadership and Leadership Support: Meaning and Practice in Urban Systems. Seattle, WA: University of Washington, Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy (Commissioned by the Wallace Foundation). One of four separate reports responding to the overarching question: What does it take for leaders to promote and support powerful, equitable learning in a school and in the district and state system that serves the school?

Ø Leithwood, K., Louis, K., et el., (2010). Learning from Leadership: Investigating the Links to Improved Student Learning. Final Report of Research to the Wallace Foundation. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota. (www.wallacefoundation.org) Thorough, comprehensive seven year study with a synthesis of implications for policy and practice about school leadership and district leadership. Principals influence learning by creating working conditions in which motivated teachers are provided the opportunity to work as professionals, effective leadership seen as > a high-functioning professional community.

Ø Robinson, V., Hohepa, M. & Lloyd, C. (2009). School Leadership and Student Outcomes: Identifying What Works and Why. Wellington, NZ: Crown (BES). Detailed, research-based explanations of the links between the work of school leaders, the work of teachers, and student outcomes.

Ø Wiseman, L. & McKeown, G. (2010) Multipliers: How the best leaders make everyone smarter. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

“The big message from this Best Evidence Synthesis is that the closer educational leaders get to the core business of teaching and learning, the more likely they are to have a

positive impact on students.”

Vivian Robinson et el, NZ Govt, 2009

Volume & Complexity as it pertains to Effectiveness & Efficiency