One of the most widely used set of professional standards for school leaders does not detail how they are linked to student performance, a report says.
“The Leadership We Need: Using Research to Strengthen the Use of Standards for Administrator Preparation and Licensure Programs” is available online from McREL. ()
In the report, Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, an Aurora, Colo.-based research center better known as McREL, compares the standards of the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium with conclusions drawn from an earlier review by McREL of 70 studies on leadership effects.
The analysis shows that more than one-quarter of the leadership practices identified as effective are not reflected in the ISLLC standards, which were drafted under the auspices of the Council of Chief State School Officers.
Rather than abandon the standards, though, the McREL report urges state policymakers to review them in light of the research base linking leadership with academic achievement.
