Lauren Bryie

EDL 642

2/16/17

The Principal as Curriculum Leaders by Glatthorn, Jailall & Jailall

Chapter 4 Importance of the Principal

To serve as an effective leader of curriculum, school administrators need to have knowledge of

curriculum and understand the importance of this role.

1. National standards for leadership and changing roles

a. Interstate School Leaders LIcensure Consortium (ISLLC) Standards for School Leaders (1996):

Envisions a principal who can drive change, accelerate and sustain high student achievement,

is skilled in turning around low-performing schools, and promotes twenty-first century learning
b. Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL) 2015: common language of leadership

expectations, school improvement, attention given to teaching and learning, focusing on

curriculum and instruction

i. Changing from management of school to leadership of school
c. Model Principal Supervisor Professional Standards: defines what supervisors of school

principals should know and be able to do to improve the effectiveness of principals

2. Concept of curriculum leadership
a. Distinction between curriculum (what is learned) and instruction (how the content is taught)
b. Principal provides innovative ideas, resource acquisition, and empowerment
c. Curriculum leadership: functions that enable school systems and the schools to achieve their

goal of ensuring quality in what students learn

i. Includes many people, such as, superintendents, assistant superintendents, principals,

assistant principals, department chairs, classroom teachers, etc.

ii. Emphasizes leadership of processes that enable all to achieve their goals
iii. Ultimate goal is to maximize student learning by providing quality content
3. Problems that face principals in executing this role
a. What does being a curriculum leader mean?
b. Curriculum not my job attitude
c. Lack of time
4. Rationale for the importance of curriculum leadership
a. A quality curriculum is essential in achieving educational excellence
b. Active initiating style: have clear long-range policies and goals; have strong expectations for

students, as well as convey and monitor those expectations; seek changes in district programs

and policies; and solicit input from staff but act decisively
 5. How principal leadership can collaborate with teacher leadership
a. The personnel resources available from the central office
b. The extent of curriculum work at the district level
c. The total responsibilities of the principal
d. The other administrative help available to the principal
e. The curriculum priorities at the school level
f. The extent to which teachers are interested in curriculum leadership
g. The existence of professional learning communities and teacher teams in the school
h. The time and other resources available to teachers
6. Performing the leadership functions
a. Used routine behaviors as opportunities for curriculum emphasis
b. One component of effective organizational behavior
i. Use behaviors that have a schoolwide impact rather than focusing on curriculum emphasis
c. Aronstein & DeBenedictis five enabling behaviors that make a school different:
i. Facilitating communication
ii. Creating a positive, open climate
iii. Building a vision with the staff
iv. Developing staff through involvement
v. Being an effective and positive role model