Learner-Centered Leadership: Research, Policy, and Practice

Many new approaches to school improvement are being proposed in the current climate of assessment and school accountability. This book explores one of these approaches, a new model of leadership training known as Learner-Centered Leadership (LCL). It is built around the fundamental idea that learning and learning communities are natural processes that, when properly harnessed, can lead to the highest levels of professional engagement and problem solving. Key features of this exciting new approach to school leadership include the following: Broad-based and GenerativeThe book's narratives vividly illustrate the extraordinary ability of LCL to generate new approaches to leadership development. For example, encouraging and assisting school leaders to reflect on their own leadership attributes relative to the implementation of the school mission: to ensure high teacher efficacy and student learning. In this respect the volume contributes significantly to the field of school leadership and professional development by extending above and beyond a narrow focus on instructional leadership. Practice OrientedBy creating communities that encourage conversation and analysis the new data-driven models of school improvement are more likely to be successfully implemented. Without analytical discourse, the process of interpreting school data and transforming it into practice would be largely lost. Conceptually AppropriateThe realization that everyone within a school (students, teachers, administrators) belongs to the same learning community minimizes status differences and encourages teamwork. The LCL administrator is much less likely to be authoritarian and power-oriented and much more likely to be transformative and student outcome focused. This book is appropriate for master's level courses and certification seminars, and for inservice workshops dealing with school leadership.

Arnold Danzig is associate professor in the Division of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Arizona State University. He is principal investigator of a multi-year grant from the United State Department of Education grant entitled Learner Centered Leadership for Language and Culturally Diverse Schools in High Needs Urban Settings. He has authored or co-authored numerous articles on leadership development which appear in International Studies in Educational Administration, Journal of Educational Administration, Educational Leadership and Administration, Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, and the 2004 Yearbook of the National Council of Professors of School Administration. He has also contributed to the education policy literature with published articles and chapters appearing in the International Journal of Educational Reform, Education Policy, Journal of Education Policy, the Politics of Accountability, and the Yearbook of the Politics of Education Association. He completed his Ph.D. degree from the University of Maryland. He teaches graduate courses on leadership skills, leadership development, and family-school-community connections. The knowledge base that he brings to this book comes from experience in schools, universities, and government as an educator, administrator, policy analyst, college professor, and parent.