Conceptualizing Alberta District Leadership Practices: A Cross-Case Analysis

Bedard, George J.; Mombourquette, Carmen

doi:10.1080/15700763.2014.997936

Cited by 7 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Results of a parallel study recently completed in the Canadian province of British Columbia (Handford and Leithwood, 2019) largely mirror the results of the current study, as well as the previous Ontario study (Leithwood, Sun and Schumacker, 2017). In addition, research in Alberta has resulted in a "Framework for School System Success" (Bedard and Mombourquette, 2015;Brandon et al, 2013) reflecting many of the nine characteristics, although not fully organized and labeled in the same way. As a whole, then, the case for generalizability to districts in other Canadian provinces is fairly strong.…”

Section: School Leadershipsupporting

confidence: 79%

How school districts influence student achievement

Leithwood

Sun

McCullough³

2019

JEA

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the effects of nine district characteristics on student achievement, explored the conditions that mediated the effects of such characteristics and contributed to understandings about the role school-level leaders play in district efforts to improve achievement. Design/methodology/approach Data for the study were provided by the responses of 2,324 school and district leaders in 45 school districts to two surveys. Student achievement evidence was provided by multi-grade provincial measures of math and language achievement. The analysis of these data included calculation of descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis and regression mediation analysis. Findings Seven of nine district characteristics contributed significantly to student achievement and three conditions served as especially powerful mediators of such district effects. The same three conditions, as well as others, acted as significant mediators of school-level leader effects on achievement, as well. Practical implications District characteristics tested in the study provide a powerful framework for guiding the district improvement work of senior educational leaders. The organizational improvement efforts of both district and school leaders would be substantially enhanced by a better understanding of how to diagnose and improve the status of those conditions acting as significant mediators of the effects of both district and school leadership on student achievement. Originality/value This is one of a very few large-scale quantitative studies examining the extent to which characteristics frequently identified by district effectiveness research explain variation in student learning. It is also one of the very few studies identifying classroom, school and family variables that mediate district effects on such learning. The study also adds to a growing body of evidence about variables which mediate school leaders’ effects on such learning.

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Section: School Leadershipsupporting

confidence: 79%

How school districts influence student achievement

Leithwood

Sun

McCullough³

2019

JEA

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“…What students need and deserve is a curriculum that affords for enactments of pedagogies of love. Bedard and Mombourquette (2015) suggest that there have been several major evolutions in the expectations and roles of leadership within Alberta schools (see Table 1). These evolutions are reflected within the changes of language and focus of the new TQS and LQS.…”

Section: Paradoxes and Inadequacies Of Past Paradigmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Administrative matters and managerial work • Building relational trust (Robinson, 2011) • Increasing transparency Note: Table 1. Shifts in Educational Leadership Through Time as Adapted from Bedard and Mombourquette (2015).…”

Section: • Focus On Mission and Visionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leadership as Love Supporting Teaching Practices Through the Enabling Constraints of Alberta’s Teaching Quality Standard

Markides¹

2022

IJLL

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School leadership roles and responsibilities are changing, subsuming managerial expectations and increasing focus on the priorities of school-based collaboration, collective culture, and community engagement by seeking stakeholder consolation and trust. Ultimately, school leadership is now, more than ever, about pedagogical responsibility and relationality—the art and science of modeling effective practice in relation to teachers, learners, and the community. Changes in Alberta's Teaching Quality Standard (TQS) (Alberta Education, 2017b) from a checklist to that of a growth-focused continuum have necessitated an evolution of the supervision and evaluation practices by school leaders. Seemingly objective evaluation practices are no longer adequate for the determination of teacher ability relative to competencies and their indicators. By shifting evaluation and supervisory paradigms from the safe and objective toward the messy and dialogical it is possible for school leaders to better understand the interconnected and complex nature of teacher practice and identity. By enacting pedagogies of love as defined by bell hooks (2001) as a combination of care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect, and trust it is possible to better understand teacher practice and pedagogy through a lens that provides the space for failure and struggles and ultimately growth and success—something stronger and more robust, something different that could not have been there before. It is the enactment of pedagogies of love that may allow for teacher personal and collective growth through relationality.

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“…School leader preparation and professional learning are integral aspects in the field of educational leadership (Harris et al, 2016). Efforts to improve leader preparation and professional learning are routinely informed by state boards of education, empirical research, and informal learning structures (Bedard & Mombourquette, 2015;Hayes, 2016;Risku & Pulkkinen, 2016;Slater et al, 2018;A. Walker & Hallinger, 2015;Zhang et al, 2017).…”

Section: Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Professional Learning Needs of School Principals

Johnson

Clegorne

Croft

et al. 2020

Journal of Research on Leadership Education

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The purpose of this qualitative research was to identify the preparation needs of principals through the lens of school superintendents in the southeastern United States. This research was based on a collaborative university, multi-school district partnership. Superintendents were interviewed to determine their perceptions regarding the professional learning needs of principals. Three themes emerged from the analysis:(a) principal perception of community matters, (b) formal support is necessary, but challenging to schedule and scope, and (c) instructional and operational leadership are differentiated. These findings present several implications for university and district-based leadership preparation programs, both individually and collaboratively.

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Conceptualizing Alberta District Leadership Practices: A Cross-Case Analysis

Cited by 7 publications

References 24 publications

How school districts influence student achievement

How school districts influence student achievement

Leadership as Love Supporting Teaching Practices Through the Enabling Constraints of Alberta’s Teaching Quality Standard

The Professional Learning Needs of School Principals

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