An Educator S Guide To School Management Leadership Skills

Today's changed education landscape demands leaders who will provide society with capable South Africans who are able to fulfil their life-roles as citizens and as productive, well-adjusted human beings.

There is a vast amount of research on what goes on in schools, but how can school leaders sort credible findings from dubious claims and use these to make informed decisions that benefit their schools? How can abstract ideas from research be translated into dynamic plans for action? This book is a practical guide to evidence-based school leadership demonstrating the benefits that can be gained from engaging with robust educational research and offering clear guidance on applying meaningful lessons to practice. Topics include: · What is evidence-based school leadership and why does it matter? · How to collect data from your own school and how to analyse this evidence in order to inform strategic leadership decisions · Models for implementing school improvement and change · Leadership skills for fostering a culture of evidence-based practice This is essential reading for senior and middle leaders in educational organisations who aspire to lead effective schools with high levels of staff well-being and enhanced outcomes for the learners they teach.

The job of school leader has become progressively more demanding. The role includes increasingly complex problems to be solved and increasingly deep piles of paperwork to complete. Unfortunately, the managing of employees, the preparing and justifying of resource – both personnel and financial - projections, and the complexities involved in operating facilities safely and legally are the most frequently mentioned reasons for why school leaders begin to question their career choice. And, while faculties and colleges of education as well as principals’ professional associations offer courses and workshops, very few adequately address the gaps that exist between theory and practice in a way that would mitigate this reticence to lead in this climate. A Principled Guide to Managing and Leading School Operations fills a gap in the training of educational leaders by orienting them to the vitally important business operations required to run a school. This book therefore is for all school leaders who wish they had been given a school operations field manual, and it is for those who prepare them who might wish to rebalance anew the current propensity of principal preparation programs that blindly privilege leadership identity over developing the requisite management acumen teachers, parents and the public expect.

The purpose of Organizational Leadership: Knowledge and Skills for K-12 Success is to provide the reader with the foundational knowledge and skills that are necessary to become an effective educational leader. The topics addressed in this book are based on the content knowledge and professional skills that are found in the ELCC Building Level Standards. These standards also serve as the foundation of the course content of our accredited and nationally recognized by CAEP Master’s Degree Program in Educational Leadership. Each chapter in this book is based on the knowledge and professional leadership skills presented in each of the courses in our M.Ed. Leadership degree program here in the College of Education at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. This book targets both current and aspiring educational leaders. Current leaders could use this book as a reference to refine their educational leadership knowledge and skills. Educational leader preparation programs will find that this book could be assigned as a textbook for aspiring educational leaders as an informative guide so that they can better understand the characteristics and concepts of effective school leadership. The topics addressed in Organizational Leadership: Knowledge and Skills for K-12 Success will provide the reader with variety of organizational leadership knowledge and skills. Chapter 1, Organizing a Just School in the Age of Accountability presents Rawl’s concept of justice which states that all students have freedom to learn and freedom to learn in a manner that best suits the learning style of the student. The chapter also discusses the roles that each of the domains of knowing plays in the teaching and learning process. Educators must realize that learning involves more than just the cognitive domain and that the attributes of the affective and psychomotor domains must be merged with it. The process for developing a School Improvement Plan (SIP) is discussed in Chapter 2. In this chapter the reader will learn that a SIP is a necessary element which guides the school improvement process. Chapter 3 defines the meaning and purpose of a school vision. The reader will learn in this chapter, how to use data to guide the process of creating a school vision. The fourth chapter of this book addresses the topic of community engagement and focuses on how schools should develop communication plans to effectively communicate with the people in the community it serves. Chapter 5, Inspiring and Leading the Change Process, deals with the change process, school climate and culture, and teacher efficacy. In the sixth chapter, Systems Alignment, the reader will learn about the need to align district and building level policies with state and federal rules and regulations. In chapter 7, School Leadership and the Law: A Field Guide for Instructional Leaders, important topics such as constitutional rights of students and employees, free speech, religion, and special education are discussed.

`This is a useful book and well written reflecting the author's considerable experience in the field' - National School Improvement Network News `Management Skills in Schools is a terrific digest of many important issues, built around a clear structure that helps the reader absorb information quickly. For the sheers scale of the references to educational gurus, it's worth the cover price: here is everything you need to quote' - Geoff Barton, Friday Magazine, Times Educational Supplement `This book provides an invaluable resource for everyone who is concerned with leadership and management in schools. As well as dealing with key issues and concepts it gives practical advice on strategies and techniques which can be deployed. It will enhance and complement existing skills as well as importing new ideas which will provide professional stimulus for the reader' - Sir Geoff Hampton, Dean of Education, Director of the Midlands Leadership Centre, University of Wolverhampton `For the discerning leader wanting to develop their personal management skills this is a "must have" resource. Whether working through Personal Management Skills independently or used as a professional development tool with a group of middle managers in a school this book will make a difference to how leaders work in schools' - Coleen R Jackson, Director, Roehampton Education Leadership Centre University of Surrey Roehampton `This is a timely collection of resources for those in middle management positions in schools. It brings together ideas on self management in addition to a comprehensive collection of materials on leading teams of staff. Particularly noteworthy are the sections on strategic decision making, action research in school improvement, and dealing effectively with conflict' - Brian Fidler, Professor of Education Management, The University of Reading Team leadership is vital element of school success, whether at the level of department, the curriculum area, the key stage, the phase, or in relation to pastoral and leadership teams. The Team leader must be skillful in creating cultures of success, and personal management skills are at the heart of getting the best from team members. In this book Jeff Jones shows how managers in education can contribute to school improvement, and focuses on the essential personal and practical management skills needed to instill a positive team culture, and support colleagues effectively. This book is an essential resource for those who lead and manage teams, at all levels within schools. Dr Jeff Jones has been a senior consultant and head of training and consultancy unit at the Centre for British Teachers CfBT in Reading since 1998, and is the well known author of such books as Monitoring and Evaluation for School Improvement, (2000), and Performance Management for School Improvement (2001)

`An inspiring resource for Headteachers, deputy Headteachers and any primary teacher who desires a leadership rile. All teachers who want to lead, or want to make themselves aware of problems faced by leaders, will not only find this book useful and informative but will learn a lot from it too' - Junior Education `This book is full of so many practical ides that new heads will surely be enthused to try something new and put energy into their new role, especially as this is supported by an outstanding detailed analysis of the frequent problems that those new to headship will face, enhanced by interesting and well-chose case studies. I am sure that this is one of books whose reputation will grow by word of mouth by those who have used it, to their colleagues. It deserves to be, and I am sure will be come a classic' - The International Journal of Educational Management `A Practical Guide to New School Leaders will be appreciated by those taking up new posts as head or deputy and should be part of their personal collections' - Tim Brighouse, Times Educational Supplement `In summary, this book makes an excellent contribution to the current debate on Leadership from a practical point of view. It provides an important resource for many aspects of leadership development programmes at a variety of levels. As a resource for both the newly appointed headteacher and those involved in their training it contributes to ensuring that the new headteacher will become a reflective thinker in terms of his/her early career as school leader. The book offers concrete strategies, case studies and checklists to help the new school leader to develop an individual action plan in order to survive and thrive' - Stephen Merrill, Edge Hill College of Higher Education, Journal In-Service Education New head teachers need help as they walk the tightrope between surviving the first years in the job and becoming strong and effective instructional leaders. John C Daresh and Trevor Arrowsmith offer concrete strategies, case studies and a personal leadership checklist to help the new school leader develop an individual plan to thrive and survive. Key features include: Real-life concerns facing new school leaders; technical and managerial skills to survive socializing to the role of a leader; strong leadership through self-awareness; the road to school leadership - making the most of being an assistant or deputy; developing personal portfolios and action plans. The book also provides answers to questions that concern new school leaders. This is a practical and essential resource for head teachers, deputy head teachers and all those aspiring towards a leadership role in schools. John C Daresh is currently professor of educational leadership at the University of Texas at El Paso. He has served as a consultant for universities and departments of education across the USA, Europe, Asia and Africa. Trevor Arrowsmith has been Principal of a Specialist Secondary School Language College in Northampton for 8 years. He is also LPSH national trainer and an External Advisor on heads performance management.