The State of Education in Tennessee: Strengthening Schools through Effective Leadership
Strengthening Schools through Effective Leadership:
Principal Preparation, Evaluation, and Ongoing Training
Tennessee has taken
important steps regarding
teacher development and
support, yet the work to
support school leaders has
continued to lag behind.
Overview
Update on the Work
Instructional
Leadership
The role of the principal has evolved
from building manager to instructional
leader. School leaders set the culture and
expectations within their schools, and are
critical to both student and teacher success.
The principal also needs to cultivate a
strong instructional leadership team by tapping into the expertise of effective
teachers. As one director of schools in Tennessee explained, “The days of just
running the school and making sure the doors are open and the kids have
books are long gone. You can’t be a principal anymore the way you may have
been taught 20 or 15 years ago. It’s a whole new ball game.”
School leaders play a critical role in student learning
and are second only to teachers in terms of the inschool factors affecting student success.xiii While
research has found significant connections between high-quality school leadership and positive
student achievement outcomes, there is work to
As outlined in the Tennessee Instructional Leadership Standards, an ethical and
do to identify the characteristics and specific skills
effective instructional leader: a) facilitates professional practice that continually
that principals need to best serve their schools.xiv
improves student learning; b) collaborates with stakeholders to create and
Tennessee has taken important steps regarding
sustain an inclusive, respectful and safe environment conducive to learning
teacher development and support, yet the work
to support school leaders has continued to lag
and growth for all; c) develops the capacity of all educators by designing,
behind. Some progress has been made, however.
facilitating, and participating in collaborative learning informed by multiple
The State Board of Education passed the Learnsources of data; and d) facilitates the development of a highly effective learning
ing Centered Leadership Policy in 2008 in order
community through processes that enlist diverse stakeholders and resources.
to build a “comprehensive system of instructional
Source: http://www.state.tn.us/sbe/2013_documents/February2013_Board_Meeting/
leadership training, development, licensure, and
III_F_Revision_of_the_Tennessee_Instructional_Leadership_Standards_Attachment.pdf
evaluation.”xv The Tennessee Instructional Leadership Standards (TILS) that provide the foundation for this work were revised in 2013 to reflect
current research and practices. Both districts and
principal training programs should be working
to align their practices to these evidence-based
leadership standards to ensure principals have the support
and resources they need. In 2014, there is a need to evaluate
principal preparation programs and work to expand the most
effective programs. There is also a need to better understand
the current conditions of principal evaluation, ongoing development, and support across the state.
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example, some districts are using Common Core leadership
coaches to provide training for administrators to help them
better evaluate