Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author
1. A School Leader’s Compass: In Who’s Interest?
Introspection: Clarifying Core Beliefs and Values
Personal Skills Assessment
Professional Skills Assessment
Sampling of Published Assessment Instruments
Pointers for the Principal
2. The Nuts and Bolts of School Leadership
Leadership for Today’s Schools: What the Literature Says
Accountability and the Principalship: Making the Grade
Standards for Today’s School Leaders: Measuring Up!
Defining Instructional Leadership
Pointers for the Principal
3. Blueprints for Success
Mission
Vision
Goals and Objectives
Strategies
Pointers for the Principal
4. A School’s Organizational Superglue
Assessing School Climate and Culture
Leadership Essential to Positive School Cultures
From Classrooms and Cubby Holes to School Community
Pointers for the Principal
5. Organizational Conduits: Communication Strategies for Effective Instructional Leadership
Seeking First to Understand
Facilitating Collaboration Within the School
Connecting With Parents and the Community as Partners
Pointers for the Principal
6. A Learning Organization’s Whetstones: Best Leadership Practices for Facilitating Professional Growth and Development
Reflective Practice
Supportive Supervision
Cooperative Evaluation
Collaborative Professional Development
Pointers for the Principal
7. The Lens of Instructional Leadership
Focusing on Learners and Learning
Creating a Climate for Learning
Communicating High Expectations for Learning
Looking for Indicators of Effective Teaching and Learning
Pointers for the Principal
8. Tape Measures, Plumb Lines, and Common Sense: What Counts in Accountability
Assuming the Accountability Reins
Making Good Sense and Best Use of Standards
Focusing on Classrooms for Accountability and Students’ Achievement
Pointers for the Principal
9. The Instructional Leader’s Power Tools: Cutting-Edge Leadership Strategies
The Leader as Architect of Change
Putting Data to Work
Tapping Into the Power of Technology
Pointers for the Principal
10. The Ultimate Leadership Tool: Personal Fitness
Investing in Personal Fitness
Common Pitfalls of the Principalship
In Conclusion
Recommended Toolbox Resources
References
Index

About the Author

Sandra Lee Gupton, EdD, is Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, where she has been serving for the past six years as Chairperson of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Before coming to UNF, she was Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Southern Mississippi for eleven years. Her experiences before coming to higher education include more than twenty years in various positions in PreK–12 public schools, including English and reading teacher, high school principal, director of instruction, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, and superintendent in Georgia and North Carolina schools.

Sandra’s professional interests are centered on leadership issues related to PreK–12 and higher education leadership effectiveness, gender equity, program reform, and school improvement. Her early research on gender equity in educational leadership led to many presentations, the publication of several articles, and the 1996 Corwin publication Highly Successful Women Administrators: The Inside Stories of How They Got There, offering advice to prospective women administrators in education. Her research and writing in recent years have been focused on the role of academic chairpersons and leadership in higher education.

Reviews

"Provides a solid base to understand the many hats that must be worn to provide for all facets of a school setting. I applaud Gupton’s focus on the learner. This is the most important tenet for a school administrator’s decision making. Each chapter describes a portion of school leadership that the successful principal needs to master."
*Sharon Madsen Redfern, Principal*

"This is a text for curriculum leaders who prize learning in themselves and others. Sandra Gupton′s love of learning and ability to frame issues are evident in each chapter with the instructional toolbox metaphor graphically holding the reader′s attention each step of the way."
*Dale Brubaker, Professor of Education*

"I really really liked the book. In fact, I am going to suggest this book to be read as a bookshare for the 52 principals in our district."
*Barbara Gerard, Secretary*

"Highly Recommended. This is a book that administrators should read and keep on their bookshelf."
*Kathy Zachel*