Education Leadership

Education leadership is the “critical bridge” uniting school-reform efforts, according to this report of The Wallace Foundation’s 2007 national education conference, where more than 400 education experts were on hand to discuss effectively training and supporting school leaders. Principals at the school level, and superintendents at the district level, are uniquely positioned to provide a climate of high expectations, a clear vision for better teaching and learning, and the means for everyone in the system—both educators and students—to realize their goals, said conference speakers. 

With that in mind, states and districts need to create standards that spell out clear expectations for leaders and establish conditions and incentives supporting the ability of leaders to meet those requirements. Equally important is that states and districts work together much more closely to create a cohesive leadership system. The report includes highlights from the meeting about how states, districts, and university leaders are grappling with the challenges of education leadership improvement, as well as commentary from keynote speakers Stanford University professor Linda Darling-Hammond and Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust.