Act 13 and Beyond: School Leaders Driving Instructional Excellence Tentative

Act 13 and Beyond: Educators Driving Instructional Excellence 

Course Description:  Today’s educators face many challenges as they work together to achieve their learning community’s vision and mission. Over the past twenty years, there has been considerable interest and research focused on school leadership and its influence on student achievement. While the classroom teacher has been shown to have the most influence on student learning, the school principal has the second greatest impact on student learning. Clearly, the classroom teacher directly impacts student learning through the creation of a classroom community, the setting of high expectations for their class, providing direct instruction, and differentiating instruction based on student need. The principal, on the other hand, impacts all of the teachers and students in the school in more indirect ways. The principal’s influence on student achievement evidences itself in these ways:  
• establishing a clear vision and mission for the learning community;  
• nurturing a strong sense of community, a just community, where all members of the community have access to and benefit from the resources of that community;  
• setting high expectations for students, staff, and faculty;  
• promoting professional growth for faculty and staff and building their capacity to deliver high-power teaching and learning in all classrooms; and  
• fostering a trusted teaching and learning environment so that the resources and talents of all members of the team can be unleashed to their full potential and support the school’s efforts in realizing its vision and mission.  
This more transformative view of principal leadership acknowledges the important leadership in all educators and the principal’s role in strategically empowering the team of educators to foster a high-power teaching and learning organization. Today’s school principal has both the opportunity and responsibility to positively impact all members of the learning community, and this course is designed to support school leaders in their efforts to build the capacity of their educators and elevate classroom instruction.