School leadership matters in OECD countries

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• School leadership matters in OECD countries
• Beatriz Pont
• Education and Training Policy Division
• OECD Education Directorate

International Conference School Leadership
Development Strategies Dublin, November 7, 2007
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Background The ISL activity
Started in early 2006 brainstorming on key
topics to analyse

• Korea
• The Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Portugal
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• United Kingdom (England)
• United Kingdom (N. Ireland)
• United Kingdom (Scotland)

• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium (French)
• Belgium (Flanders)
• Chile
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Israel

Network of experts
International organisations
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The objectives

• To provide policy-makers and others with timely
  analysis to help formulate school leadership
  policies leading to improved teaching and
  learning
• Synthesising research on issues related to
  improving leadership in schools
• Identifying innovative and successful policy
  initiatives and practices
• Facilitating exchanges of lessons and policy
  options among countries and
• Identifying policy options for governments to
  consider.

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Key issues to respond to

• What are the roles and responsibilities of school
  leadership
• How to best develop effective school leadership

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Complementary ways of looking at school
leadership

• Analytical strand Country Background Reports to
  focus on Country Background reports Policies and
  structures that impact on the role and
  development of effective school leadership
  (January 2007)
• Innovative practices strand Case studies to
  innovative practices
• New models of school organisation and management
  that distribute leadership roles and
  responsibilities in innovative ways (UK October
  06, Finland, January 07 Belgium April 07)
• Conference in England July 2006
• Promising programmes and practices to prepare and
  develop school leaders (Austria, April 07,
  Australia, Aug 07)
• Conference in Dublin November 2007

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Outputs and calendar of the Activity
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Why is school leadership a policy issue?

• Evidence shows that
• Principals have an indirect impact on schooling
  outcomes
• Principals are important for school reform
• Pressing issues of attracting, training and
  developing good leaders as well as replacing
  existing ones.
• Shortages of high-qualified school leader
  candidates across countries. Either for
  retirement reasons or for lack of attractiveness
  to the position
• At the same time
• Rising expectations of schools and schooling
  (knowledge economy, globalisation, migration, )
• Greater accountability for schools and principals
• Changing systems and school environments
  (decentralisation and autonomy)

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Todays focus Professionalising school leadership

• Concerns related to the quality of school leaders
• Many principals complain about lack of training
  and development
• Denmark, 90 felt need for mandatory training
• Ireland 18 of those participating in induction
  felt prepared for post
• International research evidence stress the
  significance of school leadership preparation for
  school improvement (Bush and Jackson, 2002
  Møller, 2006)
• Research evidence also shows some key features to
  successful training programmes
• Mentoring and coaching/collegial work
• Work based learning
• Coherence in curriculum
• Focus on leadership for learning
• Different approaches to training across
  countries, not necessarily consistent

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Todays focus Professionalising school leadership

• The context of leadership development
• Almost all principals or candidates have received
  teacher training
• Participation in training can depend on the
  formal requirements for school leaders selection
• The length of tenure in the position can have
  strong influence in the type of training
  provided.
• The approaches
• Skills development prior to becoming principal
  (System wide pre-service training)
• Encouraging induction programmes
• Promoting skills development on the job (training
  for acting principals)

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Leadership development approaches
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Todays focus Professionalising school leadership

• The practice
• There is a wide range of approaches and support
• Timing varies from 2 months to 2 years part time
• Content varies from procedural to school reform
• Wide range of institutions providing training
• Quality control
• Difficult to measure the impact
• need to develop a solid base of empirical
  research to inform design
• This conference will help us understand the
  practice better
• Innovative case studies The Victoria, Australia
  and Austria case studies
• Country roundtable discussions

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School leadership The policy
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School leadership The policy
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School leadership the policies

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• activity documents to be found in
• http//www.oecd.org/edu/schoolleadership
• Thank you very much.
• Beatriz.pont_at_oecd.org