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The Role of Distributed Leadership in Quality
Educational Organizations Preliminary Oral Defense for
Michelle Engel-Silva
Cohort 15
Definition of Distributed Leadership
Systems- Focuses on understanding the how an why of leadership by concentration on leadership practice rather than leaders, leadership roles or leadership functions (Spillane, 2004)
Situational Context-Leadership is viewed as, “ constituted by leader, followers, and the situation surrounding leaders’ practice-artifacts, tools, language and organizational structure” (Spillane, Halverson and Diamond 2000).
Definition of Quality Educational Organizations
Organizations that utilize the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Criteria and have won the California Baldrige Award known as the California Awards of Performance Excellence (CAPE)
HISTORY
In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s there was a surge of interest in distributed leadership
Educational leadership started being viewed as an organizational activity rather than belonging to a single individual (Davis, 2006).
Higher accountability standards of NCLB have demanded schools perform and many believe that accountability can be achieved through distributed leadership rather than through “heroic leadership.
History Cont.
The newest leadership reform pushes beyond the debates of individual student achievement, teacher’s pedagogical approaches and curriculum analysis, and focuses on the bigger picture of leadership. (National College of School Leadership)
Need for the Study
Distributed leadership helps meet high demands of school leaders (accountability, technology, performance evaluations, recruit staff, drive decisions with data, supervise angry parents, build professional cultures, public leadership, etc.)
Distributed leadership identifies hidden organizational leaders
(curriculum specialists, classified staff, office staff, parents, community members, public education organizations, etc.)
Distributed leadership contributes to classroom achievement
Distributed leadership affects overall school reform
Necessary to identify strengths and weaknesses so the approach can be used more successfully.
The approach is relatively new and ambiguous and needs further development. Connection between distributed leadership and Baldrige Criteria and
continuous quality improvement.
Purpose of the Study
Enhance research on “Other” school leaders Identify the characteristics that are perceived to
exist in high quality educational organizations (Extent of distribution, team element)
Identify success and challenges of the approach as it is being utilized
Identify how the distributed leadership approach is used in Baldrige-winning organizations
Literature Review
Multiple and Hidden LeadersTeam Approach Capacity Building Variety of Expertise Situational Frame Patterns of Distributed Leadership Approach Effects on School Outcomes Challenges of Approach
Multiple and Hidden Leaders
Distributed leadership based on multiple social actors opens boundaries of leadership (Spillane and colleagues, 2001, 2004, 2008)
Additive Approach- spreading out leadership (Gronn 2002, 2003).
Multiple and Hidden Leaders (14 Studies focusing on this concept)
15 Self-Managed indicated teams performed more successfully when using distributed leadership (Barry, 1991)
Surveys of 1,061 school employees identified the “bifurcated nature of organizational leadership in schools” and identified non- traditional leaders (faculty members, parent, and secretary) Pounder, Ogawa & Adams (1995)
Study of eight schools with Social Problem Solving programs indicated multiple leaders and their roles (Heller & Firestone, 1995)
Multiple and Hidden Leaders(Recent Studies)
Study of eight schools in Ontario and interviews with 67 staff members concluded found mixed pattern of leading and found distribution depended on complexity of task (Leithwood, Macall, Strauss, Sacks, Memon & Yashikina, 2007)
Study of 52 US principals revealed “the work of managing and leading the school is distributed over multiple actors; some occupying formally designated leadership positions, others without such formal designation” (Spillane, Camburn, & Pareja, 2007).
Multiple and Hidden LeadersExpanded to External School Players
Shannon and Byslma (2004) and Mitra (2005) expand role of leaders to school committees, Board members, parents and teachers
Focus on non-traditional leaders is still lacking
Team Approach
Concertive Action- “The energy that arises from individuals pooling and sharing their initiative, ideas and expertise so that the result it greater than the sum of their individual actions (Gronn, 2002)
Camburn et al. (2003) studied 503 schools and Leithwood et al. (2007), did an in-depth study of eight schools and Scribner and associates (2007) focused on teacher teams. All determined- successful leadership has a team element and focused on different types of teams
Enhancing Human Capacity and Variety of Expertise
Distributed leadership approach enhances internal capacity (Brooks, Scribner & Eferakorho ,n.d.)
Distributed leadership approach expands expertise (Gold, Evans, Early and Collarbone, 2003)
Enhanced capacity from distributed leadership approach leads to positive school reform (Skrla, Scheurich & Johnson, 2000)
Enhanced capacity builds future leaders (Davis, 2006) Distributed leadership and expanded knowledge, create
broad base of strong instructional leadership (Robinson, 2008)
Each member of the organization has unique leadership abilities that will be needed by the group at different times (Harris, 2008)
Situated Activity and Tasks
“The distributed leadership framework encourages leadership practice to emerge in and through interactions of leaders, followers and situation” (Spillane, 2001, p. 27)
Datnow and Stringfield (2000) studied at-risk group in 16 schools through 300 case studies and found that leadership is a process based on context
Tasks, tools and artifacts are elements of the leadership system that define the practice and can be, and should be distributed
(vision and mission implementation, data, textbooks, peer evaluations, etc.
Patterns of Distributed Leadership
Emerging Pattern- Near the beginning of the journey towards distributed leadership.
Developing Pattern- Journey toward distributed leadership becoming more embedded in culture of organization.
Embedded Pattern- Distributed leadership had become part of the automatic ways schools do things (Ritchie and Woods, 2007).
Effects of Distributed Leadership on Student Outcomes Student Achievement
Positive Direct LinkUrquhart (2002) contended distributed leadership has positive effect
on at-risk students Leithwood (2004) said leadership is second to classroom instruction
on effects on studentCarter and MacDonald (2006) claimed that when leadership is
dispersed it has a positive relationship with student achievement Questionable Link
National College for School Leadership project (2001) reported a weak, implied link between distributed leadership and school improvement
Hartley (2007) argued no evidence of direct casual link between distributed leadership and student achievement
Effects of Distributed Leadership on School Outcomes
Distributed leadership is effective in helping organizations set organizational goals, creating a learning environment and creating successful overall reform efforts.
Distributed Leadership Challenges
Balancing Control and Autonomy (Polite, 2003;Storey, 2004;
Wallace, 2001) Resistance of the Approach (MacBeath, 2005; Wright, 2008; Zudema &
Kleiner, 2004)
Teamwork and Collaboration Issues (Barry, 1991; Mehra, Smith,
Dixon& Robertson, 2006) Sole-Leadership Perspective (Goldstein, 2004; Leithwood et al., 1997)
Confusion of Multiple Roles (Leithwood et al., 2006; Leithwood & Jantzi, 1998; Timperely, 2005)
Hidden Leaders’ Attitudes (Harris, 2002; Mangin, 2005; Supotivz, 2002)
Perceived Distributed Leadership vs. Real Distributed Leadership (Maxcy & Nguyen, 2006; Muijs, 2007; Wright, 2008)
Culture of Schools (Harris, 2008; Maxcy & Nguyen, 2006)
Why my study is unique
Focuses on non-traditional leaders Focuses on quality improvement efforts
and the distributed leadership approachFocuses on Baldrige-winning
organizations
METHODOLOGY-Framework
Normative Framework- Focuses on how leadership is distributed in schools and by whom, by looking at the type, nature and impact of different patterns of leadership interactions (Firestone & Martinez, 2007)
METHODOLOGY- Research Questions What is the Role of Distributed Leadership in quality educational
organizations? 1) What characteristics of
distributed leadership are perceived to be present in high quality educational organizations?
A) Does organization encourage input from all school members? How?
B) Does the educational entity work with outside community partners?
C) How does the entity focus on organizational learning?
D) Is the leadership approach based on organizational connectivity?
E) How are decisions made? Are multiple people involved and is the context considered?
F) What tools are used to make leadership decision? Who utilizes these tools?
2) Are teams utilized in the organization to accomplish tasks?
A) What type of teams exist in your organization?
B) Are teams given true authority to make changes?
C) Are team players chosen by areas of expertise or are team players chosen based on promoting top leaders’ ideas?
D) Are teams in the organization productive?
E) How do we extend leadership distribution to the wider community?
3) What are some advantages and challenges of using the approach?
A) Does the distributed leadership role in general have an affect on the success of Quality Improvement efforts such as the Baldrige Criteria?
B) What outcomes have you seen as a result of this type of leadership approach?
C) What challenges have you had in utilizing the approach?
D) Does the school culture inhibit the development of distributed leadership?
E) What difference is distributed leadership making?
4) At what level of distributed leadership is the organization?
emerging, developing or embeddedA) Are there true hidden leaders in
the organization or top leaders only? Who are the perceived leaders in the organization?
B) Does the nature of the leadership role vary qualitatively at different levels in the management hierarchy?
C) Is distributed leadership a concept that is well-known to all?
D) How is distributed leadership practice developed and enhanced?
METHODOLOGY-Participants/Population
Employees working in Baldrige-winning schools in California
Two elementary schools, one high schools and three charter schools
Thirty-six employees (six in each school) One formal leader and five non-formal
leaders in each school will be interviewed
METHODOLOGY-Data Collection
Initial Contact with schoolsTape-recorded interviews with field notes
during interview and transcription following Notes taken on formal and informal
meetings Analysis of school documents
METHODOLOGY-Data Analysis
Data set scanned to identify similar themesNotes coded using N6 Qualitative research
softwareOrganization of data into thematic codes to
permit cross-case comparisonAnalytical categories assigned to data segments Creation of tables and matrices to display
findings in a meaningful way
METHODOLOGY- Validity and Reliability
Triangulation-Multiple sources of data and multiple sites used
Participant verification of accuracy on interview transcripts
Concrete Universals (Erickson, 1986)-Comparison of researched schools to those in the literature.
Rich, thick description (Merriam, 1998)