School Leadership that Works - From Research to Results by Robert Marzano

I picked this book up on Amazon in May of this year. Now that summer session is officially over, I  had some time to read it. Essentially, the authors of the book conducted a meta-analysis of research that had been previously conducted in a span of 35 years from other leading researchers. The conclusion, was that effective leadership in a school, correlates with an increase in student achievement. I had the notion that this was correct from the beginning, but it was nice to have this validated through research. The book outlines 21 responsibilities that effective leaders must address, and provides details on implementation for practitioners. Among those responsibilities was focus. Focus is the ability to establish a vision and goals, and then maintain continuous momentum towards those goals without being discouraged  from short-term obstacles. There was a specific quote I would like to share regarding change. Fullen (1993) stated that, "it is probably closer to the truth to say that the main problem in public education is not resistance to change but the presence of too many innovations mandated or adopted uncritically and superficially on an ad hoc fragmented basis," (p.23). This is so true. Often times, I feel that new policies are implemented and then simultaneously replaced by another without allowing proper time for the initial policy to prosper. 

Once the list of 21 responsibilities was established, a quantification of each responsibility was constructed in regards to how much influence it has on student achievement. Although all 21 responsibilities are important, surprisingly, situation awareness (.33) had the most impact. The more an administrator knows the nuts and bolts of his/her school, the better he/she can lead and manage it. On another note, according to Harvard scholar Richard Elmore, there exists a falsehood in the U.S. in regards to school reform. He stated that:

Knowing the right thing to do is the central problem of school improvement. Holding schools accountable for their performance depends on having people in schools with the knowledge, skill, and judgement to make the improvements that will increase student performance.

So, in essence, getting the schools to do the "right" work is critical. Two such "right" works were discussed. Comprehensive School Reform Program is funded by the federal government and a proven research based comprehensive reform model. In summary, this is a viable option if a school is willing to invest several years of commitment to see academic gains. The draw back to this option is that it will need to be adapted to a specific school culture and student population. Another option discussed was Site-Specific Approach. This is essentially an intervention on a school-wide level.

A Plan for Effective Leadership

The book discusses a plan for implementation based on the 21 responsibilities of a leader. 

1. Create a leadership team. 
2. Distribute responsibility to the team.
3. Focus on one thing.
4. Identify the order or actions.
5. Match the management style.