Monday, 19 September 2011 15:34
With the school year now well underway, topics in human capital, such as teacher and principal effectiveness, continue to be the focal point of many DMC members’ strategic initiatives. As a nation, our pursuit of improved teaching and learning has shifted in response to research findings and outcomes data: the pursuit of “highly qualified teachers” has transitioned to a pursuit of “teacher effectiveness.”
Likewise, the role of the principal is being newly rethought in light of student achievement outcomes and how the principal can most effectively drive a district’s theory of action. (For more on how districts can improve their theories of action, click here to read our recent DMC spotlight. Similar to efforts addressing teacher evaluations, reform emphasis is now on developing robust evaluation systems for principals that tie quantitative and qualitative measures of effectiveness together, generating a source of rich insights to improve the management of related systems including recruiting and professional development, among others. Our Spring 2011 dmJournal Spotlight article (Available for download here) gives readers a deep overview of key issues in principal evaluation, and provides a logical structure to address common challenges.
DMC's Fall Leadership Development Meeting, to be held in Boston on November 11th, will focus on key leadership and managerial tactics school districts can use to implement systemic approaches to improve principal effectiveness. Our emphasis will be on aligning diverse functions, systems, and data to improve overall management and coordination of principal effectiveness components. We will identify the common challenges of principal evaluation at all school levels, and show how districts can overcome these challenges to better foster principal development. Participants will discuss best practices of both what to do and how to do it, using DMC tools, techniques, and case study discussions. You can register here.
For further resources on human capital strategy, we suggest these Spotlight articles from the DMC Best Practices library:
