Download - Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium …€¦ · Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium Standards For School Leaders COUNCIL OF CHIEF STATE SCHOOL OFFICERS

Interstate SchoolLeaders Licensure

Consortium

Standards ForSchool Leaders

C O U N C I L O F C H I E F S T A T E S C H O O L O F F I C E R S

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The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is a nationwide, nonprofit organizationcomposed of the public officials who head departments of elementary and secondary educationin the states, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and fiveextra-state jurisdictions. CCSSO seeks its members’ consensus on major educational issues andexpresses their view to civic and professional organizations, federal agencies, Congress, and thepublic. Through its structure of standing and special committees, the Council responds to a broadrange of concerns about education and provides leadership on major education issues.

The State Education Assessment Center is a permanent, central part of the Council of Chief StateSchool Officers. This Center was established through a resolution by membership of CCSSO in1984.

COUNCIL OF CHIEF STATE SCHOOL OFFICERS

Henry R. Marockie (West Virginia), President

Wilmer S. Cody (Kentucky), President-Elect

Robert E. Bartman (Missouri), Vice President

Gordon M. Ambach, Executive Director

Wayne Martin, Director, State Education Assessment Center

Neil Shipman, Director, Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium

Joseph Murphy, Chairman, Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium

Copies of this document may be ordered for $10.00 per copy from:

Council of Chief State School Officers

Attn: Publications

One Massachusetts Avenue, NW

Suite 700

Washington, DC 20001-1431

Phone: 202-336-7016

Fax: 202-408-8072

Copyright © 1996 by the Council of Chief State School Officers, Washington, DC

All rights reserved with the exception of reproduction for educational purposes.

ISBN No. 1-884037-28-3

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Interstate SchoolLeaders Licensure

Consortium

Standards For School Leaders

Council of Chief State School OfficersState Education Assessment Center

Supported by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts

Adopted by Full ConsortiumNovember 2, 1996

C O U N C I L O F C H I E F S T A T E S C H O O L O F F I C E R S

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INTERSTATE SCHOOL LEADERS LICENSURE CONSORTIUM: STANDARDS FOR SCHOOL LEADERS

Dear Colleague:

For the past two years, the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC), a programof the Council of Chief State School Officers, has been at work crafting model standards for schoolleaders. Forged from research on productive educational leadership and the wisdom of colleagues,the standards were drafted by personnel from 24 state education agencies and representatives fromvarious professional associations. The standards present a common core of knowledge, dispositions,and performances that will help link leadership more forcefully to productive schools and enhancededucational outcomes. Although developed to serve a different purpose, the standards were designedto be compatible with the new National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE)Curriculum Guidelines for school administration — as well as with the major national reports onreinventing leadership for tomorrow’s schools. As such, they represent another part of a concertedeffort to enhance the skills of school leaders and to couple leadership with effective educational pro-cesses and valued outcomes.

One intent of the document is to stimulate vigorous thought and dialogue about quality educa-tional leadership among stakeholders in the area of school administration. A second intent is toprovide raw material that will help stakeholders across the education landscape (e.g., state agencies,professional associations, institutions of higher education) enhance the quality of educational lead-ership throughout the nation’s schools. Our work is offered, therefore, with these two goals in mind.

It is the desire of the Consortium to raise the bar for the practice of school leadership. Thus thestandards and indicators reflect the magnitude of both the importance and the responsibility of ef-fective school leaders.

We encourage you to heavily use this document — circulate it widely to members of the publicand the profession as well as to the policy-making community. It is through this shared vision ofeducation that school leaders will be successful and that our children will be assured of the educa-tion they will need to carry out the responsibilities of the future.

Sincerely,

Neil Shipman Joseph MurphyDirector, ISLLC Chair, ISLLC

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Preface

Over the past quarter-century, significantchanges have been reshaping our nation. At thesame time, new viewpoints have redefined thestruggle to restructure education for the 21stcentury. From these two foundations, educatorsand policy makers have launched many help-ful initiatives to redefine the roles of formalschool leaders. In this document, you see theresults of one of these efforts — the work of theInterstate School Leaders Licensure Consor-tium (ISLLC) to establish common standardsfor school leaders. In this report, we describe theportrait of leadership and the understanding ofsociety and education that guided the work ofthe ISLLC team. We also provide an overviewof ISLLC activity, describing the process weused to develop the standards and discussingcentral issues embedded in that process. Finally,we present the ISLLC standards and indicators.

Redesigning Leadership

The model of leadership standards one devel-ops depends a good deal on how the design is-sue is framed. The Consortium tackled thedesign strategy in two ways. First, we reliedheavily on the research on the linkages betweeneducational leadership and productive schools,especially in terms of outcomes for children andyouth. Second, we sought out significant trendsin society and education that hold implicationsfor emerging views of leadership — and sub-sequently for the standards that give meaningto those new perspectives on leadership.

An Understanding of Effective Leadership

Formal leadership in schools and school dis-tricts is a complex, multi-faceted task. TheISLLC standards honor that reality. At the sametime, they acknowledge that effective leaders

often espouse different patterns of beliefs andact differently from the norm in the profession.Effective school leaders are strong educators,anchoring their work on central issues of learn-ing and teaching and school improvement.They are moral agents and social advocates forthe children and the communities they serve.Finally, they make strong connections withother people, valuing and caring for others asindividuals and as members of the educationalcommunity.

The Changing Nature of Society

Looking to the larger society that envelopesschooling, the Consortium identified a hand-ful of powerful dynamics that will likely shapethe future of education and, perforce, the typesof leadership required for tomorrow’s schools.To begin with, our vision of education is influ-enced by the knowledge that the social fabricof society is changing, often in dramatic ways.On the one hand, the pattern of the fabric isbeing rewoven. In particular, we are becominga more diverse society — racially, linguisticallyand culturally. On the other hand, the socialfabric is unraveling for many children andtheir families. Poverty is increasing. Indexes ofphysical, mental, and moral well-being aredeclining. The stock of social capital is decreas-ing as well.

The perspective of the Consortium on school-ing and leadership is also colored by the knowl-edge that the economic foundations of societyare being recast as well. The shift to a post-industrial society, the advance of the global mar-ketplace, the increasing reliance on technology,and a growing infatuation with market-basedsolutions to social needs pose significant newchallenges for education. We believe that thesechallenges will require new types of leadershipin schools.

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An Evolving Model of Schooling

Turning to schooling itself, Consortium mem-bers distilled three central changes, all of whichaugur for a redefined portfolio of leadershipskills for school administrators. On one level, weare seeing a renewed struggle to redefine learn-ing and teaching to more successfully challengeand engage all youngsters in the education pro-cess. Educators are rethinking long-prevailingviews of knowledge, intelligence, assessment andinstruction. On a second level, we are hearingstrong rumblings that community-focused andcaring-centered conceptions of schooling willincreasingly compete for legitimacy with moreestablished notions of school organizations as hi-erarchies and bureaucracies. Finally, stakehold-ers external to the school building — parents,interested members of the corporate sector andleaders in the community — will increasinglyplay significantly enhanced roles in education.

ISLLC Initiative

The Consortium’s initiative builds on researchabout skillful stewardship by school administra-tors and emerging perspectives about society andeducation. At one level, our work is a continua-tion of a century’s quest to develop a deeper andmore productive understanding of school lead-ership. At the same time, however, primarily be-cause of the fundamental nature of the shift froman industrial to an information society, our workrepresents one of the two or three major transi-tion points in that voyage.

The Consortium is not alone in its attempt todefine the current era of transition in society andschooling and to capture its meaning for educa-tional leadership. Since the 1987 publication ofthe Leaders for America’s Schools by the NationalCommission on Excellence in Educational Ad-ministration, all the major professional associa-

tions, both practitioner and university based,have devoted productive energy to this issue.Indeed, the National Policy Board for Educa-tional Administration (NPBEA) was createdlargely in response to this need and in an effortto generate better and more coordinated pur-chase on the task. Thus, the work of ISLLC is partof the long tradition of regularly upgrading theprofession and, we believe, is a central pillar inthe struggle to forge a vision of educational lead-ership for tomorrow’s schools.

The ISLLC initiative began in August 1994.Fueled by the contributions of the 24 memberstates, a generous foundational grant from ThePew Charitable Trusts, and assistance from theDanforth Foundation and the NPBEA, the pro-gram operates under the aegis of the Councilof Chief State School Officers. The 24 memberstates are Arkansas, California, Connecticut,Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas,Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan,Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North Caro-lina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, SouthCarolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wis-consin. In addition, the following professionalassociations are affiliated with ISLLC: Ameri-can Association of Colleges for Teacher Educa-tion, American Association of SchoolAdministrators, Association for Supervisionand Curriculum Development, Association ofTeacher Educators, National Association of El-ementary School Principals, National Associa-tion of Secondary School Principals, NationalAssociation of State Boards of Education, Na-tional Council of Professors of EducationalAdministration, National Policy Board of Edu-cational Administration, National SchoolBoards Association, and University Council forEducational Administration.

Representatives of the member states and affili-ated organizations have crafted standards and in-

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dicators. As noted previously, in the drafting pro-cess the Consortium team drew extensively onthe research about productive leadership. We alsorelied heavily on the knowledge of the represen-tatives themselves. Finally, we employed the col-lective wisdom of colleagues in schools andschool districts, institutions of higher education,and various professional associations at bothstate and national levels to enrich and leaven thework throughout the development process.

Guiding Principles

At the outset of the project, it became clear thatour work would be strengthened considerably ifwe could craft a set of overarching principles toguide our efforts. Over time we saw that theseprinciples actually could serve two functions.First, they have acted as a touchstone to whichwe regularly returned to test the scope and fo-cus of emerging products. Second, we believethat they help give meaning to the standards andindicators. Here are the seven principles thathelped orient all of our work:

• Standards should reflect the centrality of stu-dent learning.

• Standards should acknowledge the changingrole of the school leader.

• Standards should recognize the collaborativenature of school leadership.

• Standards should be high, upgrading thequality of the profession.

• Standards should inform performance-basedsystems of assessment and evaluation for school leaders.

• Standards should be integrated and coherent.

• Standards should be predicated on the con-cepts of access, opportunity, and empower-ment for all members of the schoolcommunity.

Comments on the Standards

Many strategies are being used to upgrade thequality of leadership in the educational arena.For example, institutions of higher educationhave done extensive work on revising prepara-tion programs for prospective school adminis-trators. Many states have also strengthenedlicensing requirements and revised proceduresfor approval of university-based preparationprograms. The ISLLC team decided at the out-set of this project, however, to focus on stan-dards. This strategy made sense for severalreasons. First, based on the work on standardsin other arenas of educational reform, especiallythe efforts of the Interstate New Teachers Assess-ment and Support Consortium (INTASC), wewere convinced that standards provided an espe-cially appropriate and particularly powerful lever-age point for reform. Second, we found a majorvoid in this area of educational administration —a set of common standards remains conspicuousby its absence. Finally, we believed that the stan-dards approach provided the best avenue to allowdiverse stakeholders to drive improvement effortsalong a variety of fronts — licensure, programapproval and candidate assessment.

Within that framework, we began work on acommon set of standards that would apply tonearly all formal leadership positions in educa-tion, not just principals. We acknowledge fullwell that there are differences in leadership thatcorrespond to roles, but ISLLC members wereunanimous in their belief that the central aspectsof the role are the same for all school leadershippositions.

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While acknowledging the full range of responsi-bilities of school leaders, we decided to focus onthose topics that formed the heart and soul of ef-fective leadership. This decision led us in two di-rections. First, because we didn’t want to lose thekey issues in a forest of standards, we deliberatelyframed a parsimonious model at the standardlevel. Thus, we produced only six standards. Sec-ond, we continually focused on matters of learn-ing and teaching and the creation of powerfullearning environments. Not only do several stan-dards directly highlight learning and teaching, butall the standards take on meaning to the extentthat they support a learning environment.Throughout, the success of students is paramount.For example, every standard begins with thewords “A school administrator is an educationalleader who promotes the success of all studentsby … ”

Finally, a word about the framework for the in-dicators is in order. The design we employed

(knowledge, dispositions, and performances),is borrowed from the thoughtful work of ourINTASC colleagues. While there was little de-bate about the importance of knowledge andperformances in the framework, the inability to“assess” dispositions caused some of us a gooddeal of consternation at the outset of theproject. As we became more enmeshed in thework, however, we discovered that the disposi-tions often occupied center stage. That is, be-cause “dispositions are the proclivities that leadus in one direction rather than another withinthe freedom of action that we have” (Perkins,1995, p. 275),1 in many fundamental ways theynourish and give meaning to performance.Over time, we have grown to understand thatthese elements — knowledge, dispositions, andperformances — belong together. We also findourselves agreeing with Perkins (1995) that“dispositions are the soul of intelligence, with-out which the understanding and know-how dolittle good” (p. 278).

1 David Perkins (1995), Outsmarting I.Q.: The Emerging Science of Learnable Intelligence. New York: The Free Press.

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Standards forSchool Leaders

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Standard 1

A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the

success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation,

implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is

shared and supported by the school community.

Knowledge

The administrator has knowledge and understanding of:

• learning goals in a pluralistic society

• the principles of developing and implement-ing strategic plans

• systems theory

Dispositions

The administrator believes in, values, and is committed to:

• information sources, data collection, and dataanalysis strategies

• effective communication

• effective consensus-building and negotiationskills

• the educability of all

• a school vision of high standards of learning

• continuous school improvement

• the inclusion of all members of the schoolcommunity

• ensuring that students have the knowledge,skills, and values needed to become success-ful adults

• a willingness to continuously examine one’sown assumptions, beliefs, and practices

• doing the work required for high levels of per-sonal and organization performance

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Performances

The administrator facilitates processes and engages in activities ensuring that:

• the vision and mission of the school are ef-fectively communicated to staff, parents, stu-dents, and community members

• the vision and mission are communicatedthrough the use of symbols, ceremonies,stories, and similar activities

• the core beliefs of the school vision are mod-eled for all stakeholders

• the vision is developed with and amongstakeholders

• the contributions of school communitymembers to the realization of the vision arerecognized and celebrated

• progress toward the vision and mission iscommunicated to all stakeholders

• the school community is involved in schoolimprovement efforts

• the vision shapes the educational programs,plans, and activities

• the vision shapes the educational programs,plans, and actions

• an implementation plan is developed inwhich objectives and strategies to achieve thevision and goals are clearly articulated

• assessment data related to student learningare used to develop the school vision andgoals

• relevant demographic data pertaining to stu-dents and their families are used in develop-ing the school mission and goals

• barriers to achieving the vision are identified,clarified, and addressed

• needed resources are sought and obtained tosupport the implementation of the schoolmission and goals

• existing resources are used in support of theschool vision and goals

• the vision, mission, and implementationplans are regularly monitored, evaluated, andrevised

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Standard 2


success of all students by advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a

school culture and instructional program conducive to student

learning and staff professional growth.

Knowledge


• student growth and development

• applied learning theories

• applied motivational theories

• curriculum design, implementation, evalua-tion, and refinement

• principles of effective instruction

• measurement, evaluation, and assessmentstrategies

• diversity and its meaning for educational pro-grams

• adult learning and professional developmentmodels

• the change process for systems, organizations,and individuals

• the role of technology in promoting studentlearning and professional growth

• school cultures

Dispositions


• student learning as the fundamental purposeof schooling

• the proposition that all students can learn

• the variety of ways in which students can learn

• life long learning for self and others

• professional development as an integral partof school improvement

• the benefits that diversity brings to the schoolcommunity

• a safe and supportive learning environment

• preparing students to be contributing mem-bers of society

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Performances


• the school is organized and aligned for suc-cess

• curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricu-lar programs are designed, implemented,evaluated, and refined

• curriculum decisions are based on research,expertise of teachers, and the recommenda-tions of learned societies

• the school culture and climate are assessedon a regular basis

• a variety of sources of information is used tomake decisions

• student learning is assessed using a variety oftechniques

• multiple sources of information regardingperformance are used by staff and students

• a variety of supervisory and evaluation mod-els is employed

• pupil personnel programs are developed tomeet the needs of students and their fami-lies

• all individuals are treated with fairness, dig-nity, and respect

• professional development promotes a focuson student learning consistent with theschool vision and goals

• students and staff feel valued and important

• the responsibilities and contributions ofeach individual are acknowledged

• barriers to student learning are identified,clarified, and addressed

• diversity is considered in developing learn-ing experiences

• life long learning is encouraged and modeled

• there is a culture of high expectations for self,student, and staff performance

• technologies are used in teaching and learn-ing

• student and staff accomplishments are rec-ognized and celebrated

• multiple opportunities to learn are availableto all students

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Standard 3


success of all students by ensuring management of the organiza-

tion, operations, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective

learning environment.

Knowledge

The administrator has knowledge and understanding of :

• theories and models of organizations and theprinciples of organizational development

• operational procedures at the school and dis-trict level

• principles and issues relating to school safetyand security

• human resources management and develop-ment

• principles and issues relating to fiscal opera-tions of school management

• principles and issues relating to school facili-ties and use of space

• legal issues impacting school operations

• current technologies that support manage-ment functions

Dispositions


• making management decisions to enhancelearning and teaching

• taking risks to improve schools

• trusting people and their judgments

• accepting responsibility

• high-quality standards, expectations, and per-formances

• involving stakeholders in management pro-cesses

• a safe environment

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Performances


• knowledge of learning, teaching, and studentdevelopment is used to inform managementdecisions

• operational procedures are designed andmanaged to maximize opportunities for suc-cessful learning

• emerging trends are recognized, studied, andapplied as appropriate

• operational plans and procedures to achievethe vision and goals of the school are in place

• collective bargaining and other contractualagreements related to the school are effectivelymanaged

• the school plant, equipment, and supportsystems operate safely, efficiently, and effec-tively

• time is managed to maximize attainment oforganizational goals

• potential problems and opportunities areidentified

• problems are confronted and resolved in atimely manner

• financial, human, and material resources arealigned to the goals of schools

• the school acts entrepreneurally to supportcontinuous improvement

• organizational systems are regularly moni-tored and modified as needed

• stakeholders are involved in decisions affect-ing schools

• responsibility is shared to maximize owner-ship and accountability

• effective problem-framing and problem-solving skills are used

• effective conflict resolution skills are used

• effective group-process and consensus-building skills are used

• effective communication skills are used

• there is effective use of technology to manageschool operations

• fiscal resources of the school are managedresponsibly, efficiently, and effectively

• a safe, clean, and aesthetically pleasing schoolenvironment is created and maintained

• human resource functions support the attain-ment of school goals

• confidentiality and privacy of school recordsare maintained

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Standard 4


success of all students by collaborating with families and commu-

nity members, responding to diverse community interests and

needs, and mobilizing community resources.

Knowledge


• emerging issues and trends that potentiallyimpact the school community

• the conditions and dynamics of the diverseschool community

• community resources

• community relations and marketing strate-gies and processes

• successful models of school, family, busi-ness, community, government and highereducation partnerships

Dispositions


• schools operating as an integral part of thelarger community

• collaboration and communication with fami-lies

• involvement of families and other stakehold-ers in school decision-making processes

• the proposition that diversity enriches theschool

• families as partners in the education of theirchildren

• the proposition that families have the bestinterests of their children in mind

• resources of the family and community need-ing to be brought to bear on the education ofstudents

• an informed public

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Performances


community groups to strengthen programsand support school goals

• community youth family services are inte-grated with school programs

• community stakeholders are treated equi-tably

• diversity is recognized and valued

• effective media relations are developed andmaintained

• a comprehensive program of communityrelations is established

• public resources and funds are used appro-priately and wisely

• community collaboration is modeled for staff

• opportunities for staff to develop collabora-tive skills are provided

• high visibility, active involvement, and com-munication with the larger community is apriority

• relationships with community leaders areidentified and nurtured

• information about family and communityconcerns, expectations, and needs is usedregularly

• there is outreach to different business, reli-gious, political, and service agencies and or-ganizations

• credence is given to individuals and groupswhose values and opinions may conflict

• the school and community serve one anotheras resources

• available community resources are secured tohelp the school solve problems and achievegoals

• partnerships are established with area busi-nesses, institutions of higher education, and

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Standard 5


success of all students by acting with integrity, fairness, and in an

ethical manner.

Knowledge


• the purpose of education and the role of lead-ership in modern society

• various ethical frameworks and perspectiveson ethics

• the values of the diverse school community

• professional codes of ethics

• the philosophy and history of education

Dispositions


• the ideal of the common good

• the principles in the Bill of Rights

• the right of every student to a free, qualityeducation

• bringing ethical principles to the decision-making process

• subordinating one’s own interest to the goodof the school community

• accepting the consequences for upholdingone’s principles and actions

• using the influence of one’s office construc-tively and productively in the service of allstudents and their families

• development of a caring school community

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Performances

The administrator:

• examines personal and professional values

• demonstrates a personal and professionalcode of ethics

• demonstrates values, beliefs, and attitudes thatinspire others to higher levels of performance

• serves as a role model

• accepts responsibility for school operations

• considers the impact of one’s administrativepractices on others

• uses the influence of the office to enhance theeducational program rather than for personalgain

• treats people fairly, equitably, and with dignityand respect

• protects the rights and confidentiality of stu-dents and staff

• demonstrates appreciation for and sensitivityto the diversity in the school community

• recognizes and respects the legitimate author-ity of others

• examines and considers the prevailing valuesof the diverse school community

• expects that others in the school communitywill demonstrate integrity and exercise ethi-cal behavior

• opens the school to public scrutiny

• fulfills legal and contractual obligations

• applies laws and procedures fairly, wisely, andconsiderately

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Standard 6


success of all students by understanding, responding to, and in-

fluencing the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural

context.

Knowledge


• principles of representative governance thatundergird the system of American schools

• the role of public education in developing andrenewing a democratic society and an eco-nomically productive nation

• the law as related to education and schooling

• the political, social, cultural and economicsystems and processes that impact schools

• models and strategies of change and conflictresolution as applied to the larger political,

social, cultural and economic contexts ofschooling

• global issues and forces affecting teaching andlearning

• the dynamics of policy development and ad-vocacy under our democratic political system

• the importance of diversity and equity in ademocratic society

Dispositions


• education as a key to opportunity and socialmobility

• recognizing a variety of ideas, values, and cul-tures

• importance of a continuing dialogue withother decision makers affecting education

• actively participating in the political andpolicy- making context in the service of edu-cation

• using legal systems to protect student rightsand improve student opportunities

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Performances


• the environment in which schools operate isinfluenced on behalf of students and theirfamilies

• communication occurs among the schoolcommunity concerning trends, issues, andpotential changes in the environment inwhich schools operate

• there is ongoing dialogue with representativesof diverse community groups

• the school community works within theframework of policies, laws, and regulationsenacted by local, state, and federal authorities

• public policy is shaped to provide quality edu-cation for students

• lines of communication are developed withdecision makers outside the school commu-nity

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