Monday, August 5, 2013

Leadership

What makes a good leader?   This has been a question I have been exploring since I accepted a new position outside of the classroom.  I have held leadership roles throughout the school, but this takes it to the next level.  So begins my journey to identify good leadership qualities and to develop my own.  

Self-Improvement is a large part of my professional career.  Accepting a position as a Literacy Coach meant I needed to model leadership qualities.  To prepare for my new role, I spent the past four seasons reading as many texts about leadership that I could get my hands on.  Although each text had its own ideals to offer, the biggest take-away, and repeated message I observed was the importance of being a good listener
There is a plethora of research on what makes a strong educational leader/administrator.  This is not the topic of today's blog.  That is a topic for another discussion-stay tuned!

Below are the texts that I committed to reading as I began the new chapter in my career as a leader.  They are not in any particular order, and not all stand-out texts.  Hopefully one or two will benefit you.

1.  Coaching Conversations: Transforming Your School One Conversation At A Time by Linda M. Gross Cheliotes & Marceta A. Reilly
2.  Instructional Coaching by Jim Knight
3.  The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
4.  Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone
5.  Reading People by Mark Mazarrella
6.  The Leadership Engine by Noel Tichy
7.  Strengths Based Leadership by Tom Rath & Barry Conchie
8.  Leadership Mastery: How To Challenge Yourself and Others To Greatness by Dale Carnegie
9.  The 5 Essential People Skills by Dale Carnegie
10. The Quick and Easy Way To Effective Speaking by Dale Carnegie
11. Raising The Bar and Closing The Gap by Richard and Rebecca DuFour
12. The 5 Levels of Leadership by John Maxwell
13. Quiet Leadership by David Rock
14. Training Camp: What the Best Do Better Than Everyone Else by Jon Gordon

15.  The Personality Code by Travis Bradberry
16. Unsinkable:  how to bounce back quickly when life knocks you down by Sonia Ricotti  
17.  Driven by Data :  A Practical Guide to Improve instruction by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo
18.  Leverage Leadership:  A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional School by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo

Research: Impact of Parent Involvement




Children spend 70% of their time outside of school. (Michigan Dept. of Edu)

86% of the general public believes that support
from parents is the most important way to
improve the schools.  (Rose, Gallup, & Elam, 1997)

Decades of research show that when parents are
involved students have:

Higher grades, test scores, and graduation rates
Type of Involvement
Better school attendance
Increased motivation, better self-esteem 􏰀 Although most parents do not know how to help
their children with their education, with guidance
and support, they may become increasingly
Lower rates of suspension
Decreased use of drugs and alcohol (Parent Teacher Association)

When schools encourage children to practice
reading at home with parents, the children make
significant gains in reading achievement
compared to those who only practice at school.14
 Tizard, J.; Schofield, W.N.; & Hewison, J. (1982).  
                                                         
But what needs to be taken into consideration is "The strongest and most consistent predictors of
parent involvement at school and at home are the
specific school programs and teacher practices
that encourage parent involvement at school and
guide parents in how to help their children at
home." (Dauber and Epstein (11:61)