School leadership and pupil learning outcomes - Plenáris konferencia előadás Típus: Tudományos-közéleti-társadalmi megjelenés a projektben elért tudományos eredmények elterjesztésének céljával Alprojekt: 5.4.3 Tanulás/tanítás kutatása és fejlesztése a felnőtt- és felsőoktatásban Megjelenés: ENIRDELM Conference 2010. szeptember 16.-18. Résztvevő: Halász Gábor, plenáris előadó

1. School leadership and
pupil learning outcomes
„Does leadership matter? Implications for Leadership Development
and the School as a Learning Organisation”
ENIRDELM conference
Szeged, 2010 September 16th-18th
Gábor Halász
ELTE University, Budapest

2. The „Great Question” 80
Key Stage 2 : Percentage of 11 year olds achieving Level 4 or
above
77
75 75 75 75
75
71 74
72 73 73
70 71
English 69
65
65
63
Maths
60 62
57 58
55
54
50
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
„Can we assume that leaders
have a significant impact on
the process and the outcomes
of learning in the school? Is
there an evidence-base?”
ENIRDELM conference announcement

3. „There something really
new”
• The „Great (research)
Question” has become a „Europ
policy) question”
• Strong new research evidence is

4. Conclusions/1
• The impact of school leadership on
pupil learning outcomes seems
now to be proved by strong
research evidence
(taking into account complexity of the impact-
mechanisms)
• Leadership development remains a
complex task
(no simple recipes can be given)

5. Conclusions/2
• Developing leadership seems to be
one of the most efficient ways for
countries to improve student learning
outcomes
(policy implications)
• The need for policy action seems to
be widely recognised at EU level and
in several member countries

6. Conclusions/3
• Research should increasingly focus on
identifying the most efficient specific
policies for leadership development
• The next „Great Question”:
„What works in SL
development policy?”
(research implications)
OECD (2009): Improving School Leadership The Toolkit

7. Thank you for your
attention!

8. The „great question” has
become a common European
question
• The Council on school leadership
• The emergence of several European ne
• A new initiative: engaging national dec

9. Perseverance of Council conclusions on
school leadership
• Conclusion of November 2006
• Conclusion of November 2007
• Conclusion of November 2008
• Conclusion of November 2009
– „The knowledge, skills and commitment of teachers, as
well as the quality of school leadership, are the most
important factors in achieving high quality educational
outcomes”
– “Effective school leadership is a major factor in shaping
the overall teaching and learning environment, raising
aspirations and providing support for pupils, parents and
staff, and thus in fostering higher achievement levels.

10. European school leadership
networks and programs
• Older formations (e.g. ENIRDELM , ESHA)
• Recent formations
– European School Leadership Network (2004-2005)
– The Leadership Network (2009-)
– AHEAD project
– Developing Educational Leadership of Primary Heads
and Institutions (DELPHI)
– European Leaders' Training in Education (ELTE)
– Leadership improvement on student achievement
(LISA)
– PROject-Based SCHOOL Management

11. European Policy Network on School Leadership:
a new call
„The Network should develop and manage a
platform to facilitate knowledge exchange
between those organisations and leading
individuals responsible for developing school
leadership policymaking and practice;
This should include national policymakers,
practitioners, researchers and stakeholders”
(Source: European Commission - Call for
Proposals EAC / 42 / 2010

12. New research
evidence
In some countries
significant new
investment has been made
into finding answers to
the „Great Question”

13. What is new in recent
research?
• The complex, non-linear causal relationships
required research design that went beyond
simplistic correlational models
• It became clear that nothing can be
understood
– without considering contextual factors, and
– without considering the time factor.
• The components of effective leadership presented in a s
but not hiding complexity
• Resources implications (expensive research!)

14. Complexity
• Quantitative methods using
limited number of simple
variables grasp only a small part of
factors
• Research design implications:
– Qualitative and quantitative methods had to be
combined
– Sophisticated linkages between the variables
and the reality had to be assumed
– Complex, dynamic casual models had to be
applied

15. Contextual factors
• Schools operating in different
social environments require
different leadership approaches
(what is good in one environment may be harmful
in another)
• Research design implications:
– „Failing schools” and effective
schools had to be put into
different sample groups
– Differential causal relationships
had to be looked for in different
subsamples

16. The time factor
• Schools in different
phases of development
require different leadership approaches
(what is good in one phase may be harmful in another)
• Research design implications:
– Schools in different phases of their organisational
development could not be left in the same sample
group
– Differential causal relationships had to be looked for
in different subsamples based on developmental
phases
• Phases in the NCSL research report

17. Leadership in the three phases of
organisational development
• Initial phase
(the first year as head)
• Middle phase
(after 5 years)
• Extended phase
(after 10 Years)

18. What effective leaders do in the
initial phase
• improving the physical environment of the school in order to
create more positive, supportive conditions for teaching and
learning, teachers and pupils’
• restructuring the senior leadership team and its roles and
responsibilities
• implementing performance management systems and CPD
opportunities for all staff
• (in more difficult schools)
setting, clearly communicating and ensuring implementation
of school-wide standards for pupil behavior

19. What effective leaders
do in the middle phase
• a more regular and focussed use of
data as a means of informing
decision-making related to pupils’
progress and achievement
• distribution of leadership roles and
responsibilities.

20. What effective leaders do in the
extended (later) phase
• personalising and enriching the curriculum
• continuing the wider distribution of leadership
• (in more difficult schools)
greater attention to establishing, maintaining
and sustaining school wide policies for pupil
behaviour as well as further improvements to
the physical environment and in the quality of
teaching and learning

21. Strategies for improving student learning
Day et al., (2009): The Impact of School Leadership on Pupil Outcomes. Final Report. University of Nottingham. Research Report No DCSF-RR108

22. Leadership
strategies for
improving student
learning
Low Middle Higher
SES SES SES
Leadership behaviour
adapted to Initial
• phase phase
• SES (Social Economic Status)
Middle
• Level (primary, secondary)
phase
• and other factors…
Extended
phase