NATIONAL FORUM OF APPLIED EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL VOLUME 25, NUMBERS 1 & 2, 2011-2012

Impact of School Leadership on Teacher's Professional Growth: Teacher Perception of Administrative Support

Stuart Yager, PhD

Western Illinois University

Jeffrey Pedersen, PhD

Connecting Learning Assures Successful Students

Robert E. Yager, PhD

University of Iowa

Rene Noppe, EdD

Western Illinois University

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the understandings twenty-six teachers developed from ten elementary schools concerning how school leadership has affected the process of implementing professional development initiatives. Teachers rarely identified principals as co-learners alongside their teachers. Teachers reported a lack of trust amongst the staff; perceived their principal as not committed to the initiative; and mentioned few leadership support systems. Prior research on barriers of shared decision making was compared. Findings suggest that such barriers are present in several schools.

More now than ever before, educators are being challenged wdth higher demands and requirements in preparing our iture generations for the 21^' century. Educator development is a major concern in our current school system. Professional development for teachers is a key focus in school transformation efforts. School transformation in today's educational system is dependent, in part, by how well teachers work together with their principal and colleagues (Louis, Leithwood, Wahlstrom, & Anderson, 2010). Recent research has focused on the role of the school principal and other site-based 12

STUART YAGER, JEFFREY PEDERSEN, ROBERT E. YAGER, and RENE NOPPE leaders in the implementation of professional development initiatives (Pedersen, Yager, & Yager, 2010). Principals play a key role in supporting and encouraging teachers' professional development needs. Successful principals establish the work conditions that enable teachers to be better teachers. The ability to share with others and collaborate for the purpose of providing instruction conducive to enhance student development is critical given the many demands that are being put upon the system. Studies have reported specific leadership characteristics present in schools where professional development initiatives have quality levels of implementation (Yager, Pedersen, & Yager, 2010). Enabling teachers to work with colleagues and building administrative leaders can be extremely challenging yet vitally important for successful implementation of professional development initiatives (Burrello, Hoffman, and Murray, 2005). Much of this facilitation is dependent upon the principal and other school administrators being flexible and accommodating by providing collaborative work time; being an important part of the learning process; and being open to the diffusion of leadership roles. Distributing leadership within a school and teachers engaged in collaborative learning during professional development initiatives are attributes that will serve school systems well in creating a positive school-wide climate and culture built upon common languages, beliefs, and values that establish a level of excellence in student preparation (Louis, et al., 2010). In order to increase the depth of implementation of professional development initiatives focused on pedagogy and improvements in student learning, a distributed leadership framework involving multiple learning-centered leaders has been reported to produce positive effects (Sherer, 2004). Only a few studies provide both qualitative and quantitative evidence regarding the impact of distributed leadership practices on the implementation of professional development initiatives designed to improve school effectiveness and student achievement (Copeland, 2003; Harris, 2004; Leithwood et al., 2002). Additionally, there has been a call to explore the actual behaviors and influences associated with core leadership practices that occur with distributed leadership frameworks (Louis et al., 2010). This study focuses on providing research results for this call by examining the relationship between distributed leadership, collaboration among teachers and administrators, and school improvements through professional development initiatives.

Methods and Procedures This qualitative study focuses on the understandings of twenty-six teachers from ten elementary schools in the Midwest concerning how school leadership has affected the implementation of school-wide professional development initiatives. The teachers surveyed were attending a week-long summer professional development workshop in the Midwest of the United States. Attendance to the workshop was not mandated; rather it was volimtary participation by the teachers during their summer break. The workshop was hosted by C.L.A.S.S. Education, Connecting Learning Assures Successful Students, a non-profit organization serving K-12 educators and administrators. The C.L.A.S.S. Model represents a systemic approach and philosophy aligned with academic mastery, character building, and positive social interactions for student preparation in the workforce. 13

STUART YAGER, JEFFREY PEDERSEN, ROBERT E. YAGER, and RENE NOPPE

Prior to the start of the workshop, the teachers were sent an invitation to participate in an online pre-workshop survey. The survey was designed using a set of open-ended questions regarding their perception of how the leadership in their school supported professional development initiatives and what, if anything, the leadership could do to improve their support. Leadership was dened as the principal and, when applicable, the leadership team within the school.

Results Griffin (1995) suggests that the school culture plays a critical role in how effectively and efficiently school improvement can occur. In each of the teacher responses, school culture was investigated as a context in understanding the impact of leadership including distributed leadership, collaboration, and team learning in each school. This study identifies common themes present in the teacher responses and how the presence and absence of these themes affected the school climate, as well as staff and student development. It is within this context that teachers described how their school leadership had and had not established a school culture of trust and non-threatening environments that helped or hindered the implementation of professional development initiatives. Leslie (all names used in this report are pseudonyms), a teacher surveyed for this study described her school's environment this way: "We collaborate frequently to share ideas and suggestions to make the best learning environment we can. Other grade levels give suggestions and feedback on how we can improve learning strategies for our children." Juxtaposed is William's explanation of the environment in his school: "At the current time, the environment is more divisive. Staff is spending more time cutting each other down when offering creative solutions than collaborating." Four themes evolved as critical components in successfully implementing professional development initiatives: Principal is a Co-Learner with the Teachers: Teacher Leadership Team is a Critical Support Mechanism; Professional Growth is Nurtured Through Adequate Time; and School Staff is a Team that Trusts Each Other. Prior research identifies these themes in similar studies (Yager, et al., 2010). Principal is a Co-Learner with the Teachers Results suggest that the principal's leadership plays a crucial role in the successful implementation of professional development initiatives. A leading factor contributing to this success was described that the principal was a co-Ieamer along with the teachers; that the principal was not only present at the coaching and training sessions, but was actively engaged and participating as a learner with the teachers. Crowther (2009) describes this 14

STUART YAGER, JEFFREY PEDERSEN, ROBERT E. YAGER, and RENE NOPPE new roJe for the principal as one that fosters communities of people working together so that their collective intelligence results in creation of new knowledge that in turn enhances classroom instruction. Results indicate that only 23% of the teachers surveyed stated that their principal played a supporting role in their professional development and participated alongside teachers during professional development. Sam stated that: "Our principal sees the positive effects of professional development in C.L.A.S.S. because she attends the workshops with us. She implements is into her daily announcements, and assemblies. It makes a BIG different when she is supporting what we see as important. She sees the importance because she's learning alongside us!" Other teachers stated similar explanations: "Having a leader that gets excited about what you are excited about and helps to promote continued learning." "Our principal is a wonderful leader. He always finds ways to help keep morale up and bring new ideas to the teachers. Whenever a seminar is available for us, he always gets the information to us. He's a good example because he attends them as well." "Our principal supports and believes in what we do. He learns with us." This type of alignment is referred to as team learning (Senge, 1990). When a team becomes more aligned, a commonality of direction emerges and individuals' energies harmonize. There becomes less wasted energy and the staff begins to develop a commonality of purpose, shared vision, and an understanding of how to complement one another's efforts. Teachers indicating a lack of leadership presence as a co-learner described it this way: "Our current administration rarely participates in the professional developments and doesn't do what we are being taught. I'm not sure she knows what professional development is." "Leadership had no follow through after several requests for professional development. I made specific requests to our principal to have someone from C.L.A.S.S. come to us and even gave contact information for a certain person. Leadership made no effort." Teacher Leadership Team is a Critical Support Mechanism Results indicate that 75% of the teachers surveyed stated that their leadership team consisting of teachers from their building was the key in planning professional development for the school. In only a few cases, the principal was listed as a member of the leadership team. In some schools a formal teacher leadership team existed and was comprised of teachers from each grade level. In other schools an informal teachers 15

STUART YAGER, JEFFREY PEDERSEN. ROBERT E. YAGER, and RENE NOPPE

leadership team was in place and, yet informal, assisted the leadership in making decisions. The functions of the teams were described by two teachers this way: "The leadership within our building is made up of teachers, counselors and support staff and together, they always are a part of the planning of professional development initiatives. After hearing what others go through, I wouldn't trade my administrator for anyone else!" "Our support team helped plan for the start of the year and was part of our PD throughout the year. While our principal plans the agenda, most often it is our staff that brings the PD." The effects of the leadership teams were found to be a positive support system for the teaching staff. A possible explanation for this success is that the leadership team structure gives regularity and stability to human behavior in a system and provides the opportunity to predict, in part, the behavior of individual members of the school system, including the adoption of new professional development initiatives (Rogers, 1995). One teacher reported a different relationship with school leadership describing it this way: "Our school is like a ship moving across the waters without a captain. Our principal makes decisions, but allows the staff to badger her until she backs down and changes her mind. It reminds me of children who throw tantrums imtil they get their way." Reeves (2010) suggests that successful teaching depends upon teacher leaders who provide feedback to help their colleagues and who receive feedback on the impact of their support. Professional Growth is Nurtured Through Adequate Time Adequate time for individuals is a critical factor that needs considerable attention when implementing professional development initiatives. The teachers involved in the change process range from innovators who are described as active information seekers about new ideas and who are likely to be the first to adopt a new idea, to what Rodgers (1995) describes as laggards who are generally suspicious of any change and are often people who need additional time for buy-in. Most teachers surveyed described their principals as not fully supportive of the initiative and lacking leadership skills on how to support the staff in implementing the new strategies. Only 30% of the teachers stated that they had time to learn through professional development opportunities. Most believed that being given adequate time for professional development was essential. These teachers focused mostly on the lack of time to learn and implement professional development initiatives. Three teachers described it like this:

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STUART YAGER, JEFFREY PEDERSEN, ROBERT E. YAGER, and RENE NOPPE

"I feel that our leadership and staff are very concerned with the amount of time spent on professional development and limiting it to contract hours. Sometimes this is to the detriment of the ability to grow as a professional. I would like to see more enthusiasm put into professional development and would like to see it wrap around to everything we do instead of it limiting to one day a week after school." "Professional development has all but disappeared since schools lost the ability to use half days for it. Our administrators simply do not know how to work it into the schedule. Teachers have requested certain presenters, but no visible efforts have been made to arrange these professional development experiences. We need more time." "Professional development is lacking in our school and in schools all over the state. I believe much of this is due to the initiatives of the Department of Education at the state level. I would like to see more professional development sessions that are really beneficial, not just a "time filler" on Tuesday afternoons. I feel that the majority of those times have been wasted and could have been put to better use by just working in my classroom." School Staff is a Team that Trusts Each Other A prominent barrier described by the teachers is the lack of trust amongst the entire staff and administration. This lack of trust creates suspicion of integrity, agendas, and capabilities and becomes very difficult to communicate effectively. In a low trust environment, you can be very articulate and still be misinterpreted due to suspicion (Covey, 2006). Results indicate that only 52% of those surveyed stated they believe there is trust between principal and teachers, among the teachers, as well as positive staff collaboration and cohesiveness in their building. Bob describes his school like this: "Our Building Administrator has created and nurtured a building of distrust. She uses and pits people against one another. She protects the less adept teachers because they are her puppets and building tattletales. They will also go along with anything and everything she dictates regardless of the absurdity to keep their jobs. Everyone knows this and as a result those teachers aren't valued or truly respected as a result. Amazingly enough those teachers are clueless and think they are all that and more! The Building Administrator creates a Junior High cliquish atmosphere. She also treats the grade levels unfairly due to this as well. She manipulates the puppets totally. None of this bodes well with the true dedicated professionals that do their jobs day in and day out and achieve positive results. The other teachers are afraid to speak up or voice their feelings or opinions for fear of retaliation." Roxanne stated: "The leadership feels non-existent. When the principal wants to make a decision, (s)he doesn't stand firm. Change isn't easy for anyone, especially educators, but we need to be intentional in what we are doing to make change happen. Data should drive our 17

STUART YAGER, JEFFREY PEDERSEN, ROBERT E. YAGER, and RENE NOPPE

initiatives; PD should be intentional and meaningful. We should be using the PD times to collaborate, discuss, strategize and plan ways we can effectively change processes and practices to improve what we do and positively impact student achievement." Trust greatly affects how teachers communicate and share with each other which significantly impacts the effectiveness and efficiency of how professional development initiatives are diffused throughout the school (Pedersen et al., 2010). Trust is one thing that is common to every relationship, team, and organization that if developed and leveraged, can have a potential impact to create unparalleled successes and prosperity in every dimension of life (Covey, 2006). Barbara, a surveyed teacher, describes it like this: "We collaborate frequently to share ideas and suggestions to make the best learning environment we can. Other grade levels give suggestions and feedback on how we can improve learning strategies for our children. We trust each other!" This type of trust and communication is described by Rodgers (1995) as openness where two or more individuals become willing to share their thinking and are susceptible to having their thinking influenced by others. Openness has great benefits where the individuals gain access to deeper understandings that otherwise would not be accessible.

Discussion/Conclusions Researchers have discussed the important role leadership plays in supporting teachers' professional development needs (Lindstrom, P. & Speck, M., 2004). Studies have suggested that trust by teachers in the school leadership is not essential to transform a school (Louis et al., 2010). However, results from recent research and this study indicate that trust in leadership is not only appreciated but key to the school-wide implementation of professional development initiatives (Yager, et al., 2010). School leaders have a significant influence on teachers' classroom practices through their efforts to motivate teachers and create workplace settings compatible with instructional practices known to be effective (Louis et al., 2010). Additionally, this study supports the notion that giving teachers adequate time is essential for quality professional development. Observations have been made that distributed forms of leadership among a school staff are likely to have significant impact on positive student achievement (Bell et al., 2003). It is critical that schools create opportunities for school leaders and school leadership teams to work together, united in school improvement efforts (Spillane, 2006). Several researchers (Elmore, 2000; Miles et al., 2002; Joyce, 2004; Odden et al., 2009) have suggested that effective professional development is linked to the structural feature of collective participation. The professional development should be organized around groups of teachers from a school that over time would include everyone in the school - that is, the entire faculty and other students. Furthermore, effective sustainability of professional development initiatives have been linked to_distributed leadership frameworks and learning-centered leaders within individual schools (Southworth, 1998). When a school's professional learning-centered community engages in school wide professional development and, at the same time, works toward 18

STUART YAGER, JEFFREY PEDERSEN, ROBERT E. YAGER, and RENE NOPPE

development of a distinctive identity, it maximizes its capacity to enhance outcomes, particularly relative to student achievement (Crowther et al., 2001). The sustainability of professional development initiatives may be directly increased by increasing the density of leadership opportunities across a school building so that everyone has access to facilitative leaders who can help articulate and analyze the level of implementation. Increasing teachers' involvement in the difficult task of making good decisions and introducing improved practices must be at the heart of school leadership (Louis et al., 2010). Research on shared decision making in schools has identified barriers preventing decision making that focuses on pedagogy and quality instruction (Griffin, 1995). This is due mostly to the culture of isolation between teachers found in most schools and the general non-confrontive tone set between teachers who work together in the same school building. Typically, teachers remain unaware of what their colleagues are doing in their individual classrooms and this, combined with strong divisions commonly found between administrators and teachers, creates a culture of individuality and private practice. This study provides evidence for the importance of collaboration and teaming as critical for implementing professional development initiatives. However, this study demonstrates that when teachers view their principal as a learner, learning about good teaching alongside them, the depth of implementation will be increased. Additionally, this study and others report that when teachers view their principal as isolated and not committed passionately to instructional improvement, their own level of engagement and follow-through with the implementation of professional development initiatives will be diminished (Pedersen et al., 2010). Clearly, teachers want to know that their principal supports professional development efforts and is engaged with them in the learning process. In addition, findings from this study indicate the strong desire among teachers to collaborate with each other in order to implement the professional development initiatives. Having a peer group serve as a leadership team was seen as a force and motivation for implementation of the initiative. Additionally, this study documented that support for teacher empowerment by central office and its expectations for support at the building-level is viewed as essential by teachers. This finding is supported by previous research that showed emphasis by central office on professional development for quality instruction is key to achieving high-level implementation (Louis et al., 2010). Continued research is needed in the area of how leadership is distributed and the impact it has on the implementation of professional development initiatives. In this study, a central finding was that when leadership was distributed to the teachers and in these schools the principal was seen as a co-learner alongside the teachers, professional development initiatives were most successfully implemented. Emphasizing, and perhaps most importantly, that teachers viewed the principal as a learner with them. This supports the notion that holistic professional learning, when teachers and principals learn together, changes the culture of the learning environment that could, in effect, lead to enhanced student outcomes (Crowther, 2009). It is recommended that similar research be conducted that examines leadership support of professional development initiatives to explore barriers and successes of implementation in the context of leadership distribution.

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STUART YAGER, JEFFREY PEDERSEN, ROBERT E. YAGER, and RENE NOPPE References Bell, L., Bolam, R., & Cubillom, L. (2003). A systematic review of the impact of school headteachers and principals on student outcomes, EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Institute. London, UK: University of London. Burrello, L., Hofftnan, L., & Murray, L., (2005). School leaders building capacity from within. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Copland, M. (2003). Leadership of inquiry: Building and sustaining capacity for school improvement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 25(4), 375-395 (Special Issue on Educational Leadership). Covey, S. (2006). The speed of trust. New York, NY: The Free Press. Crowther, F., Hann, L., & McMaster, J. (2001). Leadership. In P. Cuttance, School innovation: Pathway to the knowledge society. Canberra, Australia: Australian Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs. Crowther, F. (2009). Developing teacher leaders: How teacher leadership enhances school success. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Elmore, R. F. (2000). Building a new structure for school leadership. Washington, DC: Albert Shanker Institute. Griffin, G. A. (1995). Influences of shared decision making on school and classroom activity: Conversations with five teachers. The Elementary SchoolJournal 96{\) 29. Harris, A. (2004). Distributed leadership and school improvement. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 52(1), 11-24. Joyce, B. (2004, September). How are professional learning communities created? History has a few messages. Phi Delta Kappan, 86(\), 76-83. Leithwood, K., Steinbach, R., & Jantzi, D. (2002). School leadership and teachers' motivation to implement accountability policies. Educational Administration Quarterly J^(l), 94-119. Lindstrom, P., & Speck, M. (2004). The principal as professional development leader. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Louis, K., Leithwood, K., Wahlstrom, K., & Anderson, S. (2010). Investigating the links to improved student learning. The Wallace Foundation. Miles, K. H., Odden, A., Archibald, S., Fermanich, M., & Gallagher, H. A. (2002). A cross-district analysis of professional development expenditures in four urban districts. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin Center for Education Research, Consortium for Policy Research in Education. Odden, A. (2009). 10 Strategies for doubling student performance. London, UK: Corwin. Pedersen, J., Yager, S., & Yager, R. (2010). Distributed leadership influence on professional development initiatives: Conversations with eight teachers. Journal of Academic Leadership, 5(3). Retrieved from http ://www.academicleadership.org/authors/Jeffrey Pedersen. shtml Reeves, D. (2010). Transforming professional development into student results. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Rogers, E. (1995). Diffusion of innovations. New York, NY: The Free Press. Senge, P. (1990). The fifth discipline. New York, NY: Doubleday.
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STUART YAGER, JEFFREY PEDERSEN, ROBERT E. YAGER, and RENE NOPPE Sherer, J. Z. (2004). "Distributed leadership practice: The subject matters." Preliminary draft prepared for the symposium "Recent Research in Distributed Leadership" at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA. Spillane, J. (2006). Distributed leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Southworth, G. (1998). Leading improving primary schools. London, UK: Falmer Press. Yager, S., Pedersen, J., &. Yager, R., (2010J. Impact of variations in distributed leadership frameworks on implementing a professional development initiative. Academic Leadership Online Journal,

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