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

Background: The ISL activity Australia Austria Belgium (French) Belgium (Flanders) Chile Denmark Finland France Hungary Ireland Israel Korea The Netherlands New Zealand Norway Portugal Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom (England) United Kingdom (N. Ireland) United Kingdom (Scotland) Network of experts Started in early 2006 : brainstorming on key topics to analyse International organisations

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

Key issues to respond to  What are the roles and responsibilities of school leadership  How to best develop effective school leadership

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

Outputs and calendar of the Activity Comparative report 2008 Country questionnair es Final conference, Denmark April 2008 Individual country reports Report on systemic approaches to school leadership, 2007 Case study visits ( ) International conference on school leadership development, 2007 Dedicated website International conference on school leadership approaches, London, 2006

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 (d ecentralisation and autonomy)

Today’s focus: Professionalising school leadership Concerns related to the quality of school leaders i)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 ii)International research evidence stress the significance of school leadership preparation for school improvement (Bush and Jackson, 2002; Møller, 2006) iii)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 iv)Different approaches to training across countries, not necessarily consistent

Today’s focus: Professionalising school leadership The context of leadership development: i)Almost all principals or candidates have received teacher training: ii)Participation in training can depend on the formal requirements for school leader’s selection iii)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)

Leadership development approaches

Today’s 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

School leadership: The policy Developing knowledge and skills for effective school leadership Support school leadership with appropriate training and development frameworks related to increased and changing expectations. Define coherent training frameworks that target different stages of school leadership

School leadership: The policy Developing knowledge and skills for effective school leadership Encourage initial training for school leaders, whether mandatory or voluntary Take a proactive approach to select high quality candidates Adapt content of training to standards of practice, focused on leadership for learning Ensure coherence of provision by different institutions.

School leadership: the policies Redefining roles and responsibilities of school leadership Developing the knowledge and skills of school leadership Making school leadership an attractive career Working beyond the school borders

activity documents to be found in: Thank you very much.