February 2008: Leading Student Achievement: Our Principal Purpose

In February 2008, principals gathered once again for a Leading Student Achievement symposium. The symposium began with a presentation by Dr. Avis Glaze. Dr. Glaze began her presentation by congratulating the LNS staff for their continued efforts and introducing Ann Perron, who will be fulfilling the position of Interim CEO of LNS as of February 13, 2008, at which time Dr. Glaze moves into her new role as the Education Commissioner and Senior Advisor to the Minister on equity and character development. She completed her introduction by recognizing principals' sense of mission, moral purpose and support for the work of the Secretariat.

Later that morning, Karen Seashore Louis spoke on the topic of professional community. Throughout her presentation she emphasizes the importance of the principal to remain consistent in reinforcing the norms of shared leadership to help prevent teachers from reverting to one of five default school cultures.

Linking Professional Community and Real School Improvement

Karen Seashore LouisKaren Seashore Louis, Professor – Department of Educational Policy and Administration, University of Minnesota

In the video segments below, Karen Seashore Louis explains how professional community is created and sustained. She also describes the strong impact school leaders have on student learning, and advocates for sharing instructional leadership with teachers. As well, she cautions that teachers may revert to one of five default school cultures unless the principal remains consistent in reinforcing the norms of shared leadership. She discusses ways of addressing these default cultures and stresses the importance of building relationships that are based on trust.

View videos with Windows Media Player: get Windows Media Player for free Video Segments:

  1. Introduction (Length: 13.5 minutes)
  2. A Good School Culture (Length: 14.5 minutes)
  3. Professional Community (Length: 28.5 minutes)
  4. How School Leadership Affects Teachers, and, Therefore, Student Learning
    (Length: 37.5 minutes)
  5. How to Continue the Work of the Principal (Length: 22 minutes)

Additional Materials:

  1. PowerPoint Presentation PDF
  2. Agassiz Elementary School Case Study PDF
  3. Agassiz Elementary School Worksheet PDF
  4. Orbiting the Giant Hairball PDF
  5. Professional Community and Shared Leadership Worksheet PDF
  6. Creating and Sustaining Professional Communities (Karen Seashore Louis) PDF
  7. Study Guide PDF
  8. Study Guide Activity Chart – Segment 4 PDF
  9. Study Guide Activity Chart – Segment 5 PDF
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