Instructional Leadership

Abstract

While principals are ultimately accountable for instructional leadership, they also are burdened by the increasing demands of the administrative job and, therefore, must rely on the capable teaching professionals to help carry out the instructional mission of the school. Indicators of instructional leadership for teacher leaders include coaching and mentoring, collaboration, and understanding the context of school and community. This chapter addresses the constructs of instructional leadership, including 1) understanding effective instructional practices, 2) alignment of school-wide instructional systems, 3) use of data to improve instruction, 4) the fostering of collective continuous improvement, and 5) inclusion of collaborative professional development for school personnel to build professional capacity and leadership in all. The intersection between principal and teacher leader roles, as a premise for distributive leadership, will be explored and proposed with recommendations for future research.