Educational Research Newsletter - January 2010
Principals often think they devote the bulk of their work day to improving classroom instruction when, in fact, they spend some 70 percent of their time on “buses, budgets and behavior,” writes the Educational Research Newsletter, quoting Wallace Foundation senior program officer Jody Spiro. In a detailed look at how school leaders can give more and better focus to improving classroom instruction, the article points to a recent Wallace-commissioned study describing the advantages and challenges of “school administrative managers,” assistants who take on many of the principals’ non-instructional tasks. The article also mentions a time-analysis tool principals can use for an accurate read on how they spend their time. Taking a hard look at what consumes their work day and then delegating management duties to another person “is one of the first steps principals can take to become a better instructional leader,” the article says.
Read the article.
Read the SAMs study.
Find out more about the SAMs project.