Seven Steps to Effective Instructional Leadership

Updated Edition of Best Seller! "You won′t find a more practical, detailed guide to improving school effectiveness than is contained between the covers of this book!" Leonard O. Pellicer, Dean School of Education University of La Verne La Verne, CA "Few books on school leadership have effectively brought together the best of educational theory and practice for school administrators as Elaine McEwan′s Seven Steps to Instructional Leadership." Michael Pladus 1999 MetLife/NASSP National Principal of the Year Have the courage and the vision to lead your staff to achieve their highest instructional goals! Make a substantive impact on the lives of your students and your staff. This practical, hands-on guide can help you become a more effective instructional leader. Here are research-based activities to help you lead your staff though McEwans′s seven steps: Establish, implement, and achieve academic standards Be an instructional resource for your staff Create a learning-oriented school culture and climate Communicate your school′s vision and mission to staff and students Set high expectations for your staff and yourself Develop teacher leaders Develop and maintain positive relationships with students, staff, and parents Integrate these seven steps into your daily behavior. Chapters on each step include research data, discussion and advice from instructional leaders, and practical suggestions from dozens of leading principals that you can use right now in your own school. Use the Instructional Leadership Checklist to: Assess your current level of instructional leadership Find out how your staff thinks you′re doing Set goals for improving your instructional leadership practice Evaluate your progress toward your goals Attaining a new and higher level of instructional leadership will make a difference for each person in your school. Staff, students, and parents will get the message that all students matter. Everyone will start expecting that all students can learn, and your school will achieve its mission—improving education.

Table of Contents:
Preface About the Author Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Step One: Establish, Implement, and Achieve Academic Standards 2. Step Two: Be an Instructional Resource for Your Staff 3. Step Three: Create a School Culture and Climate Conducive to Learning 4. Step Four: Communicate the Vision and Mission of Your School 5. Step Five: Set High Expectations for Your Staff and Yourself 6. Step Six: Develop Teacher Leaders 7. Step Seven: Establish and Maintain Positive Relationships With Students, Staff, and Parents Conclusion Resource A: Instructional Leadership Checklist Resource B: Instructional Leadership Checklist Response Form Resource C: Elizabeth McCay′s Assignment References Index

About the Author :
Elaine K. McEwan is an educational consultant with The McEwan-Adkins Group, offering professional development for educators to assist them in meeting the challenges of literacy learning in Grades Pre K-6. A former teacher, librarian, principal, and assistant superintendent for instruction in several suburban Chicago school districts, Elaine is the award-winning and best-selling author of more than three dozen books for educators. Her Corwin Press titles include Raising Reading Achievement in Middle and High Schools: Five Simple-to-Follow Strategies for Principals, Second Edition (2006), Seven Strategies of Highly Effective Readers: Using Cognitive Research to Boost K-8 Achievement (2004), Ten Traits of Highly Effective Principals: From Good to Great Performance (2003), Making Sense of Research: What’s Good, What’s Not, and How to Tell the Difference (2003), Seven Steps to Effective Instructional Leadership, Second Edition (2003), Teach Them ALL to Read: Catching the Kids Who Fall through the Cracks (2002), and Ten Traits of Highly Effective Teachers: How to Hire, Mentor, and Coach Successful Teachers (2001). McEwan was honored by the Illinois Principals Association as an outstanding instructional leader, by the Illinois State Board of Education with an Award of Excellence in the Those Who Excel Program, and by the National Association of Elementary School Principals as the National Distinguished Principal from Illinois for 1991. She received her undergraduate degree in education from Wheaton College and advanced degrees in library science (MA) and educational administration (EdD) from Northern Illinois University.

Review :
You won′t find a more practical, detailed guide to improving school effectiveness than is contained between the covers of this book! Few books on school leadership have effectively brought together the best of educational theory and practice for school administrators as Elaine McEwan′s Seven Steps to Instructional Leadership has. This is an outstanding book with practical, ready to use suggestions as to how to improve teaching and learning in our schools. As practitioners, the students found the books to be researched-based, easy to absorb, clearly defined traits and descriptors, with stories to bring clarity to the traits, and with meaningful reflection activities to focus on present and future practices. The book is an excellent resource for self assessment or a tool for gaining feedback from staff. There is a good balance between the summary of research and references to the aquired wisdom born out of first-hand experience.