McREL's 21 Leadership Responsibilities

McREL’s 21 Leadership Responsibilities



McREL is a nationally recognized, nonprofit, private, organization located in Aurora, Colorado, dedicated to improving education for all students through applied research, product development and service. Its staff of highly respected researchers and educators focuses on providing policymakers and educators with the highest quality, research-based, field-tested, products and services available for students, age- pre-kindergarten through 16, in the following areas:

Assessment, Accountability, and Data Use
Curriculum
Diversity
Early Childhood Education
Education Technology
Instruction
Leadership and Organization Development
Literacy
Mathematics
Professional Development
Rural Education
School Improvement and Reform
Science
Standards
Teacher Preparation and Retention

Background

More than three decades of research on the effects of instruction and schooling on student achievement are creating a new science of education. Starting in 1998, McREL began synthesizing this growing body of research through meta-analyses of research on student characteristics and teacher and school practices associated with school effectiveness. The word meta-analysis means a quantitative statistical analysis of several separate but similar experiments or studies in order to test the pooled data for statistical significance. (Webster’s Online Dictionary). The results of our first two meta-analyses have provided practitioners with specific guidance on the instructional, curricular, and school practices that, when applied appropriately, can result in increased student achievement.

Do we need another leadership framework?

Educators have long known intuitively that school leadership makes a difference. None of the advice for educational leaders was derived from the analysis of a large sample of quantitative data. Therefore, it remained largely theoretical and failed to provide school leaders with practical guidance for becoming effective leaders. McREL’s Balanced Leadership Framework is a much more comprehensive analysis of research on school leadership and student achievement that is grounded in evidence. It is “predicated on the notion that effective knowing what to do – it’s knowing when, how, and why to do it.”

Methodology

McREL’s balanced leadership framework was developed from three key bodies of knowledge:
· A quantitative analysis of 30 years of research,
· An exhaustive review of theoretical literature on leadership, and
· Their research team’s more than 100 years of combined professional wisdom on school leadership.

Findings

The data from McREL’s meta-analysis demonstrate that there is a substantial relationship between leadership and student achievement. The average effect size (expressed as a correlation) between leadership and student achievement is .25, which is statistically significant. In addition to the general impact of student achievement, they identified 21 specific leadership responsibilities significantly correlated with student achievement. They include: culture; order; discipline; resources; curriculum, instruction, assessment; visibility; contingent rewards; communications; outreach; input; affirmation; relationship; change agent; optimizer; ideals/beliefs; monitors/evaluates; flexibility; situational awareness; and intellectual stimulation.

The differential impact of leadership

Leaders can have a positive impact on achievement, however they can also have a marginal or even a negative impact, as well. When leaders focus on the wrong classroom practices, the wrong school, or miscalculate the magnitude or “order” of change they are attempting to implement, they can negatively impact student achievement. There are two primary variables that determine whether or not leadership will have a positive or negative impact on achievement. They are: the focus of change and whether or not leaders understand the magnitude of “order” of change.

The focus of change

Richard Elmore, a Harvard scholar stated, “Knowing the right thing to do is the central problem of school improvement. Holding schools accountable for their performance depends on having people in schools with the knowledge, skill, and judgment to make the improvements that will increase student performance.” (Knowing the Right Things to Do: School Improvement and Performance-Based Accountability)

The magnitude or “order” of change

Some changes have greater implications than others for staff members, students, parents, and other stakeholders. McREL calls these “first order” and “second order” changes. Characteristics of “first-order” changes include: an extension of the past; within existing paradigms; consistent with prevailing values and norms; focused; bounded; incremental; linear; marginal; implemented with existing knowledge & skills; problem-and-solution-oriented; and implemented by experts. Characteristics of “second-order” changes include: a break with the past; outside of existing paradigms; conflicted with prevailing values and norms; emergent; unbounded complex; nonlinear; a disturbance to every element of a system; requires new knowledge and skill to implement; neither problem-not solution-oriented; and implemented by stakeholders. What will be experienced, as a “first-order” change for some will be a “second-order” change for others. The implications of the change for individuals, institutions, and organizations determine the magnitude or order of change. Different perceptions about the implications of change can lead to one person’s solution becoming someone else’s problem.

Selecting the appropriate leadership practices

Each of the 21 leadership responsibilities presented includes several different leadership practices. While some of the practices required to lead first order change, skillful use of all practices is required to successfully lead second order change. Depending on the school environment, both first and second order changes can lead to gains in student achievement.

Conclusion

There are no “fail-safe” solutions to organizational and educational problems. Educational effectiveness is dependent upon efficient leadership. Research findings that are easily applied by the practitioners, readily accessible, and well-organized can enhance the likelihood of effective education leadership. McREL’s Based on all the research and reading I did, McREL’s balanced leadership framework seems to be the most rigorous, comprehensive, and useful integration of theory and research into a practical format available to educational leaders today. McREL’s framework isn’t by any means a utopian solution to educational issues; however, it can be used as a very efficient and effective tool in helping the current and future educational teams and leaders add value to the work of all stakeholders in order to significantly improve student achievement.

Resources

http://www.merel.org/pdf/LeadershipOrganizationDevelopment/503/RR_BalancedLeadership.pdf

Marzano, R.J. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research into action. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.