The Instructional Leadership Toolbox

Sandra Lee Gupton, EdD, is Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, where she has been serving for the past six years as Chairperson of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Before coming to UNF, she was Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Southern Mississippi for eleven years. Her experiences before coming to higher education include more than twenty years in various positions in PreK–12 public schools, including English and reading teacher, high school principal, director of instruction, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, and superintendent in Georgia and North Carolina schools.Sandra’s professional interests are centered on leadership issues related to PreK–12 and higher education leadership effectiveness, gender equity, program reform, and school improvement. Her early research on gender equity in educational leadership led to many presentations, the publication of several articles, and the 1996 Corwin publication Highly Successful Women Administrators: The Inside Stories of How They Got There, offering advice to prospective women administrators in education. Her research and writing in recent years have been focused on the role of academic chairpersons and leadership in higher education.

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbout the Author1. A School Leader’s Compass: In Who’s Interest?Introspection: Clarifying Core Beliefs and ValuesPersonal Skills AssessmentProfessional Skills AssessmentSampling of Published Assessment InstrumentsPointers for the Principal2. The Nuts and Bolts of School LeadershipLeadership for Today’s Schools: What the Literature SaysAccountability and the Principalship: Making the GradeStandards for Today’s School Leaders: Measuring Up!Defining Instructional LeadershipPointers for the Principal3. Blueprints for SuccessMissionVisionGoals and ObjectivesStrategiesPointers for the Principal4. A School’s Organizational SuperglueAssessing School Climate and CultureLeadership Essential to Positive School CulturesFrom Classrooms and Cubby Holes to School CommunityPointers for the Principal5. Organizational Conduits: Communication Strategies for Effective Instructional LeadershipSeeking First to UnderstandFacilitating Collaboration Within the SchoolConnecting With Parents and the Community as PartnersPointers for the Principal6. A Learning Organization’s Whetstones: Best Leadership Practices for Facilitating Professional Growth and DevelopmentReflective PracticeSupportive SupervisionCooperative EvaluationCollaborative Professional DevelopmentPointers for the Principal7. The Lens of Instructional LeadershipFocusing on Learners and LearningCreating a Climate for LearningCommunicating High Expectations for LearningLooking for Indicators of Effective Teaching and LearningPointers for the Principal8. Tape Measures, Plumb Lines, and Common Sense: What Counts in AccountabilityAssuming the Accountability ReinsMaking Good Sense and Best Use of StandardsFocusing on Classrooms for Accountability and Students’ AchievementPointers for the Principal9. The Instructional Leader’s Power Tools: Cutting-Edge Leadership StrategiesThe Leader as Architect of ChangePutting Data to WorkTapping Into the Power of TechnologyPointers for the Principal10. The Ultimate Leadership Tool: Personal FitnessInvesting in Personal FitnessCommon Pitfalls of the PrincipalshipIn ConclusionRecommended Toolbox ResourcesReferencesIndex

"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."