Instructional Leadership

Many educators believe that principals should play the role of instructional leader, and not just school manager ( Fink & Resnick, 2001). The reality is, however, that the many demands on a principal's time and management skills make it difficult for most of them to spend time in classrooms, except, often, when performing teacher evaluations. While principals often make sure teachers have opportunities for professional development, they themselves rarely have any time to directly affect their teachers' professional growth ( Fink & Resnick, 2001). At the same time, parents, the media, and government at local state and national levels have openly questioned whether our schools, and by extension our teachers, are doing an adequate job of teaching (Johnson et. al., 2000). One expert in the field, a principal himself, suggests that the solution is for principals to share the role of instructional leadership with teachers (Hoerr, 1996).

The...
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