The Learning Leader: How to Focus School Improvement for Better Results

by Douglas B. Reeves

Overview

"We can't do that in our school district."
"I don't have time to add that to my curriculum."
"We're fighting against impossible odds with these students."

Sound familiar? School improvement can often feel like a losing battle, but it doesn't have to be. In this fully revised and updated second edition of The Learning Leader, Douglas B. Reeves helps leadership teams go beyond excuses to capitalize on their strengths, reduce their weaknesses, and reset their mindset and priorities to achieve unprecedented success.

A critical key is recognizing student achievement as more than just a set of test scores. Reeves asserts that when leaders focus exclusively on results, they fail to measure and understand the importance of their own actions. He offers an alternative—the Leadership for Learning Framework, which helps leaders identify and distinguish among four different types of educators and provide more effective, tailored support to

- "Lucky" educators, who achieve high results but don't understand how their actions influence achievement.
- "Losing" educators, who achieve low results yet keep doing the same thing, expecting different outcomes.
- "Learning" educators, who have not yet achieved the desired results but are working their way toward excellence.
- "Leading" educators, who achieve high results and understand how their actions influence their success.

Reeves stresses that effective leadership is neither a unitary skill nor a solitary activity. The Learning Leader helps leaders reconceptualize their roles in the school improvement process and motivate themselves and their colleagues to keep working to better serve their students.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416629382
Publisher:	ASCD
Publication date:	08/31/2020
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	180
Sales rank:	1,044,062
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Douglas B. Reeves is the author of more than 40 books and 100 articles on educational leadership and student achievement. Twice named to the Harvard University Distinguished Authors Series, Doug received the Contribution to the Field Award from the National Staff Development Council (now Learning Forward) and was named the Brock International Laureate for his contributions to education. Doug's research and teaching have taken him to 50 states and more than 40 countries. He lives with his family in downtown Boston and can be reached at [e-mail].

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction: What the Leadership for Learning Framework Will Do for You 1

1 The Results Paradox 11

2 Challenging Leadership Myths: Hope for the Exhausted Leader 18

3 Architectural Leadership: Why You Cannot Do It Alone 25

4 What Matters Most: From Planning to Performance 31

5 Transforming Research into Action 46

6 Leadership and Effective Feedback: The Dilemmas of Grading 70

7 Leadership Maps: Applying the Leadership for Learning Framework 84

8 The Dimensions of Leadership 101

9 Putting It All Together: The Five Essential Transformations of Leadership for Learning 120

Afterword 136

Appendix A Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring (PIM) School Improvement Audit and Scoring Guide 137

Appendix B Creating Your Leadership Map 149

Appendix C Daily Priorities Lists 152

Appendix D Guidelines for Creating Data Walls 154

References 157

Index 167

About the Author 172