This study examines the instructional leadership practices of 5 elementary principals as self -reported in recorded semi-structured interviews. The seven claims of instruction leadership as identified by Leithwood, Day, Sammons, Hopkins, Harris, Leithwood, Gu, Brown, Ahtaridou and Kington (2009) were used to frame the interview protocol which is designed to develop a deeper understanding of each principal's practices as instructional leaders in their schools. The data indicated that these principals were committed to their work and undertook specific leadership practices to accomplish school initiatives. However, two leadership practices, distributing leadership and acting as a visionary leader, were not revealed in the data. These findings may indicate a need to study the impact of the dual role of manager and instructional leader and of divisional culture on the work of school principals. In addition, there is no reference within the model with respect to what constitutes good teaching and learning and therefore it is not useful in determining and/or assessing leadership behaviours related to these areas. As such, Leithwood’s model may benefit from closer examination in order to provide a broad and clearly articulated set of guidelines for assessing instructional leadership practices.

This study examines the instructional leadership practices of 5 elementary principals as self -reported in recorded semi-structured interviews. The seven claims of instruction leadership as identified by Leithwood, Day, Sammons, Hopkins, Harris, Leithwood, Gu, Brown, Ahtaridou and Kington (2009) were used to frame the interview protocol which is designed to develop a deeper understanding of each principal's practices as instructional leaders in their schools. The data indicated that these principals were committed to their work and undertook specific leadership practices to accomplish school initiatives. However, two leadership practices, distributing leadership and acting as a visionary leader, were not revealed in the data. These findings may indicate a need to study the impact of the dual role of manager and instructional leader and of divisional culture on the work of school principals. In addition, there is no reference within the model with respect to what constitutes good teaching and learning and therefore it is not useful in determining and/or assessing leadership behaviours related to these areas. As such, Leithwood’s model may benefit from closer examination in order to provide a broad and clearly articulated set of guidelines for assessing instructional leadership practices.

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The Education Commission of the States in 2007 reported that 16 states had a policy for alternative licensure for school leaders and 23 states had a path for alternative licensure but not a policy (Education Commission of the States, 2007). Therefore there were 39 states that offered a policy or path for obtaining licensure for school leaders through an alternative route. This information suggested a nation-wide development and warranted investigation. First year principals, as are first year teachers, are in need of a mentor. The current principals are the individuals who would be asked to mentor newly hired principals. This quantitative study was conducted to gain insight into the willingness of elementary principals to mentor alternatively licensed principals. The Virginia Association of Elementary Principals (VAESP) agreed to email the web mail questionnaire to their public school principal members as of March 1, 2010. The questionnaire was sent to 515 elementary principals in Virginia. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was the statistical procedure used to determine the relationship between the predictor variables and the willingness of elementary principals to mentor alternatively licensed principals. The data indicated that Virginia Elementary School Principals are somewhat willing to mentor their peers. However, they do not feel that alternative licensure is a good route for principal licensure. / Ph. D.

Using a multiple gating procedure, five elementary principals were identified as special education leaders. This descriptive study uses a multiple-case study design to explore principal’s (a) understanding and perceptions of instructional strategies associated with improved outcomes for students with learning disabilities (LD), and (b) their instructional leadership practices utilized to promote educators’ instruction of students with LD. Findings reveal that the majority of participants (n = 4) expressed at least a moderate understanding of effective instruction for students with LD, perceived implementation of these practices as necessary (n = 5), but reported mixed perceptions regarding feasibility. As expected, the five participants also described different levels of utilizing instructional leadership practices to promote educator’s instruction of students with LD. However, the two participants with advanced special education degrees were distinct from the others with respect to their combined high understanding, positive perceptions, and instructional leadership practices utilized to promote educators’ instruction of students with LD. Overall propositions indicate: (a) principals in this study who possessed higher understanding of effective instructional practices for students with LD and were interested in improving this understanding, were more apt to engage in instructional leadership practices to promote effective instruction for students with LD, (b) principal’s prioritization of developing a collaborative vision and practices among educators to promote effective instruction of students with LD may be beneficial to improving instruction for students with LD, and (c) principal’s intentional interaction and support with both general and special educators may lead to higher levels of collaboration among educators as well as more effective instruction for students with LD. / text

This study was conducted to gauge the perceptions of various groups regarding the elementary principal1s role in the public schools. The hypotheses for the study were the following. 1. There will be no significant difference between the role perception ratings given by the elementary school principal and the business representative regarding their perception of the role of the elementary principal. 2. There will be no significant difference between the role perception ratings given by elementary principals and public school board members regarding their perception of the role of the elementary principal. 3. There will be no significant difference between the role perception ratings given by business representatives and public school board members regarding their perception of the role of the elementary principal. 4. There will be no significant difference between the role perception ratings of elementary principals, business representatives, and public school board members regarding their perception of the role of the elementary principal relative to the age of the respondent, the sex of the respondent, number of years in present position, number of years residing in district, and educational level of the respondent. 5. There will be no significant difference among the role perception ratings of elementary principals regarding their perception of their role relative to sex of the respondent, number of years in the present school district, and number of years as an elementary principal.

The purpose of this study was to learn about how elementary principals conceptualized instructional leadership and whether the way they thought about leadership influenced their allotted use of time for instructional leadership. In order to answer this question, two sub-questions needed to be answered about how elementary principals conceptualized instructional leadership and how elementary principals perceived they used their time. This mixed-method study interviewed 30 principals in an urban-suburban school district in Utah to produce data. Each principal participated in a newly constructed survey of 84 questions. The survey consisted of four parts including demographics, open-ended questions about instructional leadership, and paper and pencil questions about both instructional leadership and how the principal thought they spent their time. The findings of the study showed that the principals recognized and agreed with a broad definition of instructional leadership when prompted, but they were only able to articulate a limited definition made up of between three and ten sub-concepts. Every principal's self constructed combination of the sub-concepts differed. However, when the principal's conceptualization of instructional leadership was translated into the time they spent on each task associated with that conceptualization, 68% of the responses fell into those tasks associated with the narrow definition of instructional leadership, however only 60% of their time was used for tasks associated with the narrow definition of instructional leadership. (The principals conformed their instructional leadership time to their self constructed conceptualization from 10.7% to 100% of their time.) Principals committed between 7.0-38% of their total time to instructional leadership, but the average amount of time spent on instructional leadership was 20% of their total time. Principals who had more time tasks associated with the narrow definition of instructional leadership committed more of their total time to instructional leadership. The principals who indicated that coaching, mentoring, and collaboration as the most important activities of instructional leadership spent more time doing these instructional leadership tasks than principals who said other activities were most important. The task most often associated with instructional leadership when principals self constructed their responses was "being in classrooms and evaluating teachers."

The role of teacher leaders in schools is becoming more prevalent as educators examine ways to insure systemic change. It is based on the assumption that education will improve when those closest to the situation are included and encouraged to not only participate in the decision-making process, but also to initiate change. The purpose of this study was to describe the principals' support of teacher leaders in elementary schools in one school system. This study collected data from all public elementary school principals in a large suburban school district in Virginia and from selected elementary level teachers in order to answer the following four research questions: 1. Do elementary principals and/or teachers perceive they support the development of teacher leaders? 2. Do elementary principals and/or teachers perceive teacher leaders serve as a vehicle for shared decision-making? 3. Do elementary principals and/or teachers perceive teacher leaders as instrumental in expanding the focus of shared decision-making to include instructional decisions? 4. Do teachers and/or principals receive preparation at the college/university level to assume teacher leadership positions or as principals to guide teachers to assume leadership positions? The findings of this study indicated that elementary principals and teacher leaders perceive there is support for teacher leaders in their school. There is also agreement that teachers should participate in shared decision-making structures. There is disagreement between the two groups as to the level of participation in such areas as finances, personnel and implementation of new school programs. Finally, the principals do not believe that course work at the university/college level assisted them in promoting and supporting teacher leadership in their school. / Ed. D.

The problem addressed in this study was the lack of consistency of implementation of instructional leadership practices by elementary principals. Little research existed at the time of this study to inform current practitioners about specific instructional leadership practices that positively effect student growth based on the perceptions of successful practitioner. The purpose of this study was to describe specific instructional leadership behaviors perceived by elementary school principals to have a positive effect on student growth and to describe the contextual factors that affect the different levels of implementation of these behaviors. The conceptual framework for this study was instructional leadership. The research questions were created to collect data that described specific instructional leadership practices as well as contextual factors that positively affect student growth and influence the different levels of implementation of instructional leadership practices. Using qualitative case study design, data were collected from a sample of 16 elementary principals serving students in 1 school district in a southeastern state identified by student consistent performance on the Progress and School Climate components of the College and Career Readiness Performance Index. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews. Coding and thematic analysis were used to analyze interview data. Key themes included an emphasis on data driven decision making, the importance of a clearly defined mission and a positive school climate. This research may contribute to positive social change as consistent implementation of the specific instructional leadership practices identified in this study could have a positive effect on student growth and learning in elementary schools.

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to examine the role of the central office staff and the strategies used to support capacity building in elementary principals in a rapid growth district. By synthesizing research and models from education reform scholars, the conceptual framework of professional capital, intrinsic motivation, the educational change process, and professional learning communities was generated to advance the understanding of utilizing PLCs as a foundation for central office to initiate and sustain continuous improvement in a rapid growth district. The Professional Learning Community Assessment - District Support developed by Olivier, Huffman, and Cowan was administered to 126 participants within the curriculum and instruction department and three elementary schools to collect data to analyze the five dimensions of PLCs within the school district. Eleven interviews were conducted with members of the curriculum and instruction department and elementary principals. According to the eleven interviewees, and PLCA-DS, six themes emerged to support the role of capacity building in elementary principals using the PLC model as a framework. The PLC infrastructure, supportive central office, collaborative culture, continuous improvement, differentiated opportunities to learn, and data use were the six themes generated by the participants to support continuous improvement in elementary principals. Each of the five PLC dimensions were visible throughout the themes as the findings illustrated six key practices currently in motion within the rapid growth school district used to build capacity in elementary principals.