Session Information
26 SES 07 B, Diverse Settings and Challenging Cirrcumstances
Paper Session
Contribution
An earlier version of this paper was accepted for the conference in Porto but was withdrawn due to a family bereavement. The study is now complete and the findings of the full study are now ready for dissemination)
In many studies, the typical conclusion of researchers, working within both quantitative and qualitative paradigms, is that that school leaders have indirect effects on student outcomes. Creating the conditions for quality learning is often viewed as one of the key contributions of school leaders to high quality schools. It is also widely acknowledged that teachers are key in impacting student performance meditating curricula with good quality pedagogy. In the context of recent concepts in leadership scholarship including distributed models of leadership and the developing work on teacher leadership, these formulations seem somewhat outdated. It could be argued that there is a need to examine how formal leadership roles, both formal and informal leadership practice including teacher leadership coexist in schools and how different models of this collective leadership impact student attainment and the overall quality of student experience. A focus of this nature is particularly relevant in examining practice in schools in challenging circumstances where, in Ireland as in other countries, patterns of low attainment and poor quality engagement with schools are very persistent. The key question in this study is to explore leadership practice in a number of disadvantaged schools in order to gain a better understanding of the differential impact of assigned and assumed leadership roles and practice on the overall quality of schools specifically in the area of teaching and learning and student attainment in literacy and numeracy. This focus is particularly relevant to the Irish context as the policy responses of the ministry of education in Ireland to schools in disadvantaged areas have been considerable. During better economic times a significant amount of money was channeled into this group of schools. This had very positive impact on the overall quality of school buildings, the range of resources available, the number of teachers and additional supports for schools. Despite the pressure from the more recent economic downturn and austerity policies, this sector has been protected for the most severe cutbacks. A review of the impact of this extended period of investment has revealed that the overall impact on students attainment has been limited with gains largely confined to the early stages of primary school and decreasing significantly as children progress to the later stages of this level of schooling (Shiel et al 2014, Weir and Denner 2013). The evidence from research demonstrating that school effect can be significant informed the focus of this study (Robinson, 2007, Leithwood, Jantzi, 2008 ). Exploring how schools differ with respect to individual school response to the implementation of policies and initiatives to support better student learning may serve to increase our insight into the persistence of low levels of attainment.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Darling-Hammond, L. & Ifill-Lynch, O. (2006) “If They’d Only Do Their Work!”, Educational Leadership, 63, 5, 8-13. Miller R. J. & Rowan B. (2006), “Effects of Organic Management on Student Achievement”. American Educational Research Journal Summer 2006, Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 219–253 J. Scheerens & B. Witziers (2005), Educational leadership and student performance, Twente: University of Twente. Potter, D., Reynolds, D. & Chapman, C. (2002) “School Improvement for Schools Facing Challenging Circumstances: a review of research and practice”, School Leadership & Management, 22, 1, 243-26. Weir and Denner (2013) The evaluation of the School Support Programme under DEIS: Changes in pupil achievement in urban primary schools between 2007 and 2013, Dublin ERC. Shiel,G., Kavanagh and Millar, D (2014) The 2014 National Assessments of English Reading and Mathematics Volume 1: Performance Report , Dublin ERC. Frawley, D., McCoy, S.,Thornton, M. (2014) Affective School Engagement and Self-Concept: How are Irish Boys and Girls Faring? Child Indicators Research, Vol. 7, Issue 4, pp.843-859 Department of Education and Skills, (2015) Looking at Action Planning for Improvement in DEIS Primary Schools, Dublin DES Reviewing Reviews of Research in Educational Leadership: An Empirical Assessment, Educational Administration Quarterly October 2014 50: 539-576, Leithwood,K. Jantzi, D. (2008) Linking leadership to student learning: The contributions of leader efficacy, Educational administration quarterly, Robinson, V (2007) School Leadership and Student Outcomes: Identifying What Works and Why, Australia, ACEL. Hallinger and Heck (2010) Collaborative leadership and school improvement: Understanding the impact on school capacity and student learning, School Leadership and Management, 2010 Leithwood,K., Louis, K.S. and Wahlstrom, S. (2009) How successful leadership influences student learning: The second installment of a longer story. Handbook of educational leadership, Springer
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