Helping Educators Become More Effective Leaders

Leading organizations of school administrators offer educators various opportunities to encourage educators to become leaders. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has mandated that leaders be better prepared for the task of providing quality education to all. NCLB “… is forcing all educational stakeholders to face the weakness of contemporary school leadership and is making it impossible to ignore the need for higher quality principals” (Hale & Moorman, 2003, p.1). It is believed that all educators can be and are leaders in their own right. A leader is a visionary and has the ability to inspire others to aspire to greatness. Of the numerous opportunities that are offered, those that are most beneficial include but are not limited to leadership training programs, professional development, and creating shared leadership opportunities for teachers to become leaders. The systems “…that produce our nation’s principals are complex and interrelated – and governed by the states. Each state establishes licensing, certification and re-certification” (Hale & Moorman, 2003, p.1). States use the ISLLC standards “…as the framework for preparation programs and in service professional development of school superintendents, principals, and other leaders” (Hale & Moorman, 2003, p.3).

Leadership training programs allow for teachers to use their professional experience as an educator and combine it with the academic and hands on experience of being a leader by providing a comprehensive program. Leadership “…is learnable by providing real world leadership training” (Ramsey, 2006, p.xx). The training program prepares educators to be leaders and equips them with the tools necessary to be an effective leader. There is a need for an “,,,infusion ...

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...ategies” that have been used and research shows how schools are impacted” (Ramsey, 2006, p.xv11).

Works Cited

Blasé, J. & Blasé, J. (2004). Handbook of instructional leadership: How successful principals

promote teaching and learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Hale, E. & Moorman, H. (2003). Preparing school principals: A national perspective on

policy and program innovations. Institute for Educational Leadership, Washington,

DC and Illinois Education Research Council, Edwardsville, IL.

Lashway, L. (2003). Transforming principal preparation. Paper commissioned for the Board

of the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration, Bakersfield,

California, August, 2001. 6 pages.

Ramsey, R. (2006). Lead follow or get out of the way: How to be a more effective leader in

today’s schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press