In the 1990s transformational leadership was touted as the catalyst for change in troubled
schools. School leaders were urged to develop a vision for improvement and to articulate it to all
members of the school community. In operational terms transformational leadership attempts to
build capacity by delegating leadership tasks to skilled individuals and to raise the commitment
level of school community members to achieve organizational goals. Theorists (Bass, 1985;
Burns, 1978) believe that members of the school community (administration, teachers, and staff)
would be more productive if capacity and commitment were increased.
Leithwood and Jantzi (2000) studied the effects of transformational leadership on student
engagement and organizational conditions. Organizational conditions were defined as teacher
instruction and school policies and procedures. The results showed a strong significant
relationship between leadership and organizational conditions (p<.01) and a slightly weaker, yet
still significant, relationship between leadership and student engagement (p<.05). The researchers
suggest that although transformational leadership has a weaker direct relationship with student
engagement, the strong direct relationship it has with organizational conditions mediates
increased student engagement (Leithwood & Jantzi). Thus, transformational leadership creates an
environment that positively impacts student participation in school.
In a more recent study, researchers found that transformational leadership is necessary
but not sufficient to impact school performance (Marks & Printy, 2003). The researchers found
that high quality pedagogy and high student achievement—as indicated on authentic assessment
measures—were found in schools where transformational leadership was coupled with
instructional leadership (Marks & Printy, 2003). The researchers called this altered form of
administration—integrated leadership (Marks & Printy, 2003). Transformational leadership is the
foundation of integrated leadership; however, it also contained a form of shared instructional
leadership. Shared instructional leadership, according to the researchers, still focuses on
standardizing the practice of effective teaching, but allows teachers to make strategic curricular
and instructional decisions.
This study contributes to Conference Strand IV: Conceptualizing Leadership Amidst
Social Change in two ways. First, it presents both the common and unique practices of school
leaders who consistently maintain high student outcomes in schools that serve underrepresented
minority and low-income students. Second, it provides thick description of the social context
under which these principals operate. Therefore, because this is a qualitative study it captures the
complexities of leadership and implementing best practices as they play out in the reality of the
urban school environment.
The evidence reported in this study illuminate strategies that the participating principals
used to circumnavigate rigid district mandates regarding teacher hiring and teacher development.
The participants delineate personal and professional characteristics that serve to enhance the
quality of instruction at their particular schools. In addition, the principals go beyond good
instructional leadership practices and diminish opportunities for teachers to share in the decision-
making process. The findings emphasize the necessity to include incorporating the voices of all
school level participants in order to make significant changes to schools and the educational
systems.
Section II: Outcomes and Methods
The presenter hopes to provide educators with significant information regarding the best
practices of successful urban principals, while also providing the space and opportunity to
critique beliefs and leadership strategies implemented by these principals that works against the
overall improvement of schools. In order to accomplish this task the presenter will have hard
copies of the research study and will also provide an outline that summarizes the research
methodology, analysis, and discussion. Since this will be a roundtable, the presenter assumes that
the participants will have ample opportunity to engage in discussion and provide rich feedback.
ReferenceS
Convention