What We Know
About Successful School Leadership
 Ten years ago the American Educational Research Assoc. reviewed the growing body of research evidence which documents the effects of school leadership. Click onto this link to read about the major findings on school leadership which can be summarized in five significant areas. The authors conclude that we know school leadership is most successful when it is focused on teaching and learning, and that it is a necessary, but not the only, factor required for school improvement. (January, 2003, by Kenneth A. Leithwood and Carolyn Riehl)
 Two years later, The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development published School Leadership that Works: From Research to Results by Marzano, Waters, and McNulty. Drawing from 35 years of studies, the authors explain critical leadership principles that every administrator needs to know. These principles are divided into six categories, the last one provides "A five-step plan for effective school leadership that includes a strong team, distributed responsibilities, and 31 team action steps."
Why is this important for arts education? See our next article on the Principal Arts Leadership program to find out!
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Principal Arts Leadership Program
The goal is to build and support systemic change in public schools so that all students can benefit from the vital role of arts learning in a complete education. The school principal is recognized as the instructional leader in the arts and is provided with the support needed to sustain powerful arts programming. Working with each school's leadership, PAL helps develop an ongoing annual plan for arts education utilizing an arts team of educators, administrators, and community members. Research of the program has identified four critical stages that account for its enormous success since 2004. Arts|Learning has been collaborating with ArtsEd Washington for the past year to "import" the PAL program to MA beginning in 2014. A|L has identified 6 MA school districts ready and eager to participate; substantial grants have been submitted with hopes of funding. These grants require matching funds to be raised, and A|L has begun the Eric Oddleifson Legacy Fund in part to support this effort. We believe substantial change in arts education in schools will occur because of replicating this important program. |
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Eric Oddleifson Legacy Fund Launched
In December, 2013, A|L launched the beginning of a five-year campaign to raise substantial funds through the Eric Oddleifson Legacy Fund in honor of A|L's Co-Founder. The purpose of the fund is to significantly intensify the work of the organization in order to leverage the strongest impact among students, teachers, administrators, and arts and cultural organizations wishing to promote quality arts education and arts integration for all students in all schools. A primary focus of these funds will be to replicate ArtsEd Washington's highly successful Principal Arts Leadership Program here in Massachusetts. Through our "Five Days of Arts|Learning" series, we are hoping to attract 500 new members or donors to raise funds to support our many worthwhile initiatives, including the PAL program (see above article). Won't you join others in honoring Eric Oddleifson's amazing legacy of supporting arts education for all students? Please click here to contribute online using a credit card via PayPal. If you wish to contribute with a check, please download our donor/membership form here. We thank you for your generous support. |
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