The Challenge for School Leaders

A New Way of Thinking about Leadership

By (author) Ronald Warwick

Hardback - £66.00

Publication date:

28 November 2014

Length of book:

184 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781475810943

The Challenge for School Leaders identifies essential systems and their elements that enhance the school leader’s knowledge and skill to continually improve the academic program through a faculty collaborative process. The critical systems addressed are system elements, communication, curriculum, instruction, assessment, and collaborative decision making to determine causes of nonproductive systems and solutions to remove and solve these issues.

The text includes a pre- and post-school assessment survey process that involves the faculty and administrators in evaluating their school, and identifying critical areas that need improvement. This survey has been statistically affirmed for high reliability and validity with respect to academic system behaviors correlated with high academic student performance.

The continual improvement philosophy is the foundation of this text and collaboration is the method by which this concept is achieved. The value of each person is critical, and everyone is needed to improve the academic systems to serve the needs of the students and the faculty. The communication linkage system as well as curriculum-instruction-assessment integration is addressed and is essential to the improvement process. The analysis and improvement of the instructional process is the key to enhancing student academic performance. The concepts and practical suggestions along with the knowledge and skills to build an effective academic system for students is the aim of this study.

Rather than decry the value of continual-improvement intentions, [Warwick] provides strategies for leaders for inspiring and measuring improvement in their schools. . . . Some aspects of the material presented in The Challenge for School Leaders can be intimidating, but so, too, can real life assessment in which authentic goals toward improvement are embedded. The primary benefit for readers is the effort Warwick has made in detailing processes for getting this kind of work completed in a timely manner. There is opportunity for pioneering leaders to adapt recommendations to suit the needs of their own schools, and the guidelines can help all those engaged in these endeavors.