The Instructional Leadership Toolbox

A Handbook for Improving Practice
Second Edition
Sandra L. Gupton - Department of Educational Leadership, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL
The Instructional Leadership Toolbox
November 2009 | 216 pages | Corwin
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ISBN: 9781452272863
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ISBN: 9781412975391
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Description

Leadership Solutions

"I applaud Gupton's focus on the learner. This is the most important tenet for a school administrator's decision making. Each chapter describes a portion of school leadership that the successful principal needs to master."
—Sharon Madsen Redfern, Principal
Highland Park Elementary School, Lewistown, MT

Use these powerful leadership tools to build teamwork and improve instruction!

Every school leader needs a toolbox of strategies for improving teaching and learning schoolwide. In this second edition of The Instructional Leadership Toolbox, Sandra Lee Gupton examines the role of principals in leading instruction and provides practical ways for leaders to reflect on and improve their practice.

Emphasizing a democratic approach that involves stakeholders in instructional leadership, this resource offers a compendium of helpful skills and strategies drawn from current research and theory in school administration. The book provides:

  • Updated standards from NAESP and ISLLC
  • New research that shows how a principal's actions can affect student achievement
  • Questions for reflective practice
  • Quotes and examples of instructional leadership strategies by practicing principals and veteran educators
  • Additional resources such as Web sites, workbooks, books, and articles

This valuable guide provides a blueprint that demonstrates how school leaders can focus on student learning, while using specific tools to empower others and build teams for a common goal: increased student achievement.

Contents

Preface

Preface

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

About the Author

  • 1. A School Leader’s Compass: In Who’s Interest?
  • Introspection: Clarifying Core Beliefs and Values
  • Personal Skills Assessment
  • Professional Skills Assessment
  • Sampling of Published Assessment Instruments
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 2. The Nuts and Bolts of School Leadership
  • Leadership for Today’s Schools: What the Literature Says
  • Accountability and the Principalship: Making the Grade
  • Standards for Today’s School Leaders: Measuring Up!
  • Defining Instructional Leadership
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 3. Blueprints for Success
  • Mission
  • Vision
  • Goals and Objectives
  • Strategies
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 4. A School’s Organizational Superglue
  • Assessing School Climate and Culture
  • Leadership Essential to Positive School Cultures
  • From Classrooms and Cubby Holes to School Community
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 5. Organizational Conduits: Communication Strategies for Effective Instructional Leadership
  • Seeking First to Understand
  • Facilitating Collaboration Within the School
  • Connecting With Parents and the Community as Partners
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 6. A Learning Organization’s Whetstones: Best Leadership Practices for Facilitating Professional Growth and Development
  • Reflective Practice
  • Supportive Supervision
  • Cooperative Evaluation
  • Collaborative Professional Development
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 7. The Lens of Instructional Leadership
  • Focusing on Learners and Learning
  • Creating a Climate for Learning
  • Communicating High Expectations for Learning
  • Looking for Indicators of Effective Teaching and Learning
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 8. Tape Measures, Plumb Lines, and Common Sense: What Counts in Accountability
  • Assuming the Accountability Reins
  • Making Good Sense and Best Use of Standards
  • Focusing on Classrooms for Accountability and Students’ Achievement
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 9. The Instructional Leader’s Power Tools: Cutting-Edge Leadership Strategies
  • The Leader as Architect of Change
  • Putting Data to Work
  • Tapping Into the Power of Technology
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 10. The Ultimate Leadership Tool: Personal Fitness
  • Investing in Personal Fitness
  • Common Pitfalls of the Principalship
  • In Conclusion

Recommended Toolbox Resources

Recommended Toolbox Resources

References

References

Index

Index

Description

Leadership Solutions

"I applaud Gupton's focus on the learner. This is the most important tenet for a school administrator's decision making. Each chapter describes a portion of school leadership that the successful principal needs to master."
—Sharon Madsen Redfern, Principal
Highland Park Elementary School, Lewistown, MT

Use these powerful leadership tools to build teamwork and improve instruction!

Every school leader needs a toolbox of strategies for improving teaching and learning schoolwide. In this second edition of The Instructional Leadership Toolbox, Sandra Lee Gupton examines the role of principals in leading instruction and provides practical ways for leaders to reflect on and improve their practice.

Emphasizing a democratic approach that involves stakeholders in instructional leadership, this resource offers a compendium of helpful skills and strategies drawn from current research and theory in school administration. The book provides:

  • Updated standards from NAESP and ISLLC
  • New research that shows how a principal's actions can affect student achievement
  • Questions for reflective practice
  • Quotes and examples of instructional leadership strategies by practicing principals and veteran educators
  • Additional resources such as Web sites, workbooks, books, and articles

This valuable guide provides a blueprint that demonstrates how school leaders can focus on student learning, while using specific tools to empower others and build teams for a common goal: increased student achievement.

Contents

Preface

Preface

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

About the Author

  • 1. A School Leader’s Compass: In Who’s Interest?
  • Introspection: Clarifying Core Beliefs and Values
  • Personal Skills Assessment
  • Professional Skills Assessment
  • Sampling of Published Assessment Instruments
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 2. The Nuts and Bolts of School Leadership
  • Leadership for Today’s Schools: What the Literature Says
  • Accountability and the Principalship: Making the Grade
  • Standards for Today’s School Leaders: Measuring Up!
  • Defining Instructional Leadership
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 3. Blueprints for Success
  • Mission
  • Vision
  • Goals and Objectives
  • Strategies
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 4. A School’s Organizational Superglue
  • Assessing School Climate and Culture
  • Leadership Essential to Positive School Cultures
  • From Classrooms and Cubby Holes to School Community
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 5. Organizational Conduits: Communication Strategies for Effective Instructional Leadership
  • Seeking First to Understand
  • Facilitating Collaboration Within the School
  • Connecting With Parents and the Community as Partners
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 6. A Learning Organization’s Whetstones: Best Leadership Practices for Facilitating Professional Growth and Development
  • Reflective Practice
  • Supportive Supervision
  • Cooperative Evaluation
  • Collaborative Professional Development
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 7. The Lens of Instructional Leadership
  • Focusing on Learners and Learning
  • Creating a Climate for Learning
  • Communicating High Expectations for Learning
  • Looking for Indicators of Effective Teaching and Learning
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 8. Tape Measures, Plumb Lines, and Common Sense: What Counts in Accountability
  • Assuming the Accountability Reins
  • Making Good Sense and Best Use of Standards
  • Focusing on Classrooms for Accountability and Students’ Achievement
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 9. The Instructional Leader’s Power Tools: Cutting-Edge Leadership Strategies
  • The Leader as Architect of Change
  • Putting Data to Work
  • Tapping Into the Power of Technology
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 10. The Ultimate Leadership Tool: Personal Fitness
  • Investing in Personal Fitness
  • Common Pitfalls of the Principalship
  • In Conclusion

Recommended Toolbox Resources

Recommended Toolbox Resources

References

References

Index

Index

SAGE Publishing Logo

The Instructional Leadership Toolbox

A Handbook for Improving Practice


November 2009 | 216 pages | Corwin

Format Published Date ISBN Price
Hardcover 27/02/2023 9781412975391 $91.95
Paperback 27/02/2023 9781412975407 $42.95
Lifetime 27/02/2023 9781452272863 $39.00

Leadership Solutions

"I applaud Gupton's focus on the learner. This is the most important tenet for a school administrator's decision making. Each chapter describes a portion of school leadership that the successful principal needs to master."
—Sharon Madsen Redfern, Principal
Highland Park Elementary School, Lewistown, MT

Use these powerful leadership tools to build teamwork and improve instruction!

Every school leader needs a toolbox of strategies for improving teaching and learning schoolwide. In this second edition of The Instructional Leadership Toolbox, Sandra Lee Gupton examines the role of principals in leading instruction and provides practical ways for leaders to reflect on and improve their practice.

Emphasizing a democratic approach that involves stakeholders in instructional leadership, this resource offers a compendium of helpful skills and strategies drawn from current research and theory in school administration. The book provides:

  • Updated standards from NAESP and ISLLC
  • New research that shows how a principal's actions can affect student achievement
  • Questions for reflective practice
  • Quotes and examples of instructional leadership strategies by practicing principals and veteran educators
  • Additional resources such as Web sites, workbooks, books, and articles

This valuable guide provides a blueprint that demonstrates how school leaders can focus on student learning, while using specific tools to empower others and build teams for a common goal: increased student achievement.


Table Of Contents:

  • Preface
  • Acknowledgments
  • About the Author
  • 1. A School Leader’s Compass: In Who’s Interest?
  • Introspection: Clarifying Core Beliefs and Values
  • Personal Skills Assessment
  • Professional Skills Assessment
  • Sampling of Published Assessment Instruments
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 2. The Nuts and Bolts of School Leadership
  • Leadership for Today’s Schools: What the Literature Says
  • Accountability and the Principalship: Making the Grade
  • Standards for Today’s School Leaders: Measuring Up!
  • Defining Instructional Leadership
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 3. Blueprints for Success
  • Mission
  • Vision
  • Goals and Objectives
  • Strategies
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 4. A School’s Organizational Superglue
  • Assessing School Climate and Culture
  • Leadership Essential to Positive School Cultures
  • From Classrooms and Cubby Holes to School Community
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 5. Organizational Conduits: Communication Strategies for Effective Instructional Leadership
  • Seeking First to Understand
  • Facilitating Collaboration Within the School
  • Connecting With Parents and the Community as Partners
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 6. A Learning Organization’s Whetstones: Best Leadership Practices for Facilitating Professional Growth and Development
  • Reflective Practice
  • Supportive Supervision
  • Cooperative Evaluation
  • Collaborative Professional Development
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 7. The Lens of Instructional Leadership
  • Focusing on Learners and Learning
  • Creating a Climate for Learning
  • Communicating High Expectations for Learning
  • Looking for Indicators of Effective Teaching and Learning
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 8. Tape Measures, Plumb Lines, and Common Sense: What Counts in Accountability
  • Assuming the Accountability Reins
  • Making Good Sense and Best Use of Standards
  • Focusing on Classrooms for Accountability and Students’ Achievement
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 9. The Instructional Leader’s Power Tools: Cutting-Edge Leadership Strategies
  • The Leader as Architect of Change
  • Putting Data to Work
  • Tapping Into the Power of Technology
  • Pointers for the Principal
  • 10. The Ultimate Leadership Tool: Personal Fitness
  • Investing in Personal Fitness
  • Common Pitfalls of the Principalship
  • In Conclusion
  • Recommended Toolbox Resources
  • References
  • Index

Recent Product Reviews:

format was clear and point-to-point, included the basics
Dr Lillian Breckenridge, Religion Dept, Oral Roberts University
"Highly Recommended. This is a book that administrators should read and keep on their bookshelf."
Kathy Zachel, OAESA Principal Navigator magazine, Winter 2011
"This is a text for curriculum leaders who prize learning in themselves and others. Sandra Gupton's love of learning and ability to frame issues are evident in each chapter with the instructional toolbox metaphor graphically holding the reader's attention each step of the way."
Dale Brubaker, Professor of Education, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
"Provides a solid base to understand the many hats that must be worn to provide for all facets of a school setting. I applaud Gupton’s focus on the learner. This is the most important tenet for a school administrator’s decision making. Each chapter describes a portion of school leadership that the successful principal needs to master."
Sharon Madsen Redfern, Principal, Highland Park Elementary School, Lewistown, MT
"I really really liked the book. In fact, I am going to suggest this book to be read as a bookshare for the 52 principals in our district."
Barbara Gerard, Secretary, Alaska Charter School Association, Academy Charter School, Palmer, AK

Recommendations