Administrator Effectiveness

Introduction

Goal & Strategies*

Administrators (district superintendents, school principals, early childhood directors) actively create a culture and organizational structures that ensure the quality of PreK-3rd grade learning.

Visible Leadership

Visible Leadership

Administrators demonstrate that PreK-3rd is a priority to both internal and external stakeholders

Example Implementation Indicators

District Administrators/Community Leaders

• Increase the number of and strengthen partnerships between districts, Head Start grantees, child care organizations, municipalities with early learning initiatives, extended-learning programs, and other community-based programs.
• Develop clear and consistent communication about PreK-3rd as a priority in both internal (e.g., district strategic plans, teacher newsletters) and external (e.g., web sites, family newsletters) platforms.
• Establish expectations that principals and program administrators focus on core PreK-3rd goals and minimize the number/variety of initiatives that compete for teachers’ attention.

Principals/Site Administrators

• Increase the number of partnerships between elementary schools, the early learning programs that feed into them, and families.
• Strengthen the consistency and depth of partnerships between schools and local early learning programs so they are perceived to be meaningful and mutually beneficial.

Foster Teamwork

Foster Teamwork

Administrators foster teamwork among individuals, especially teachers, at all levels within the PreK-3rd work.

Example Implementation Indicators

District Administrators/Community Leaders

• Establish and support teamwork among school principals and early learning directors/administrators.
• Establish a vision and expectations for principals/administrators to build and support constructive teamwork among teachers.

Principals/Site Administrators

• Support regular, inclusive, and shared professional development among teachers in both age/grade-level (horizontal) and cross-grade (vertical) teams, inclusive of both school- and community-based teachers.
• Engage and support teacher teamwork by involving teacher teams in setting professional development agendas and materials selection.
• Demonstrate innovative efforts to create and standardize time for school- and community-based teachers to work together across different daily, weekly, quarterly, and school year calendars.

Teachers

• Participate in regular professional learning communities with other teachers at their age/grade level (horizontal).
• Participate in regular professional learning communities with teachers in other age/grade levels (vertical).

Instructional Leadership

Instructional Leadership

Administrators are effective instructional leaders, PreK-3rd.

Example Implementation Indicators

District Administrators/Community Leaders

• Participate in annual professional development related to the learning and development of children, birth through age 8.
• Actively develop and cultivate their own and others’ leadership skills around improving learning opportunities for young children.
• Establish and implement effective induction programs and on-going supervision/evaluation of site administrators and teachers who work in PreK-3rd grade settings.

Principals/Site Administrators

• Participate in annual professional development related to the learning and development of children, birth to age 8.
• Use student outcome data to inform decisions about instructional strategies, learning environment, teacher assignment, professional development priorities,
• Conduct regular classroom observations for the purpose of providing constructive and supportive feedback to teachers.
• Assign strong teachers to PreK-3rd grade classrooms.

Teachers

• Perceive feedback received from principals and administrators to be constructive and supportive.
• Demonstrate common instructional practices across classrooms and differentiated instruction for all children.

Resources

Early Learning Instructional Leaders and Strong PreK-3rd Student Assessment Systems: The New Jersey Story
Click Here, Advocates for Children of New Jersey

Resources

Continuing Education

Continuing Education

Laws, Regulations, Statutes

Laws, Regulations, Statutes

Links

Links

Effective Principal Leadership
Click Here, The Wallace Foundation

Literature

Literature

Building Early Learning Leaders: New Jersey’s PreK-3rd Leadership Training: A Case Study
Click Here Advocates for Children of New Jersey, March 2011

Districts Developing Leaders: Lessons on Consumer Actions and Program Approaches from Eight Urban Districts
Click Here Margaret Terry Orr, Cheryl King, and Michelle LaPointe, The Wallace Foundation

Leading Early Childhood Learning Communities: What Principals Should Know and Be Able To Do
from the National Association of Elementary School Principals Click Here

Leading Pre-K-3 Learning Communities: Competencies for Effective Principal Practice
From the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP)
Click Here The digital edition of this publication is free for a limited time — until November 15, 2014.

Learning from Leadership: Investigating the Links to Improved Student Learning
Click Here University of Minnesota, Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement; University of Toronto; Ontario Institute for Studies in Education; Commissioned by The Wallace Foundation

Organizing Schools for Improvement
Click Here, Kappan 91 (7), April 2010

Playmakers: How Great Principals Build and Lead Great Teams of Teachers
Click Here for Document Website address: www.newleaders.org

PreK-3rd: Principals as Crucial Instructional Leaders
By Sara Mead, April 5, 2011 Click Here

Minnesota Examples

Minnesota Examples

Presentations

Presentations

Administration (Education Leaders) Building a Strong PreK-3 System : What is my role?
Click Here, Linda Sullivan-Dudzic, Donna Gearns, & Kelli Leavell

Research

Research

Go to Research & Studies

Tools

Tools

Webinars & Videos

Webinars & Videos

School Administrators: PreK-3rd Instructional Leaders
Click Here, The PreK-3rd Grade National Work Group

School Principal: Building Early Childhood Learning Capacity
Click Here, from UIC College of Education

* Kauerz, K. & Coffman, J. (2013). Framework for Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating PreK-3rd Grade Approaches. Seattle, WA: College of Education, University of Washington.