School Leadership that Works:
From Research to Results
Marzano, Waters, and McNulty 2005
School Leadership that Works
From Research to Results
n Research
n The 21 Responsibilities of the School Leader
n Two Types of Change
n Doing the Right Work
n A Plan for Effective Leadership
The 21 Responsibilities of the School Leader
n Affirmation n Involvement
n Change Agent n Knowledge
n Contingent Rewards n Monitoring/Evaluating
n Communication n Optimizer
n Culture n Order
n Discipline n Outreach
n Flexibility n Relationships
n Focus n Resources
n Ideals/Beliefs n Situational Awareness
n Input n Visibility
n Intellectual Stimulation
1. Affirmation
n Systematically and fairly recognizing and
celebrating the accomplishments of students
and teachers
n Systematically and fairly recognizing the
failures of the school
2. Change Agent
n Consciously challenging the status quo
n Willing to lead change initiatives with
uncertain outcomes
n Systematically considering new and better
ways of doing things
n Consistently attempting to operate at the
edge versus the center of the school’s
competence
3. Contingent Rewards
n Using hard work and results as the basis for
rewards and recognition
n Using performance versus seniority as a
primary criterion for rewards and recognition
4. Communication
n Developing effective means for teachers to
communicate with one another
n Being easily accessible to teachers
n Maintaining open and effective lines of
communication with staff
5. Culture
n Promoting cohesion among staff
n Promoting a sense of well-being among staff
n Developing an understanding of purpose
among staff
n Developing a shared vision of what the
school could be like
6. Discipline
n Protecting instructional time from
interruptions
n Protecting teachers from internal and external
distractions
7. Flexibility
n Adapting leadership style to the needs of
specific situations
n Being directive or nondirective as the
situation warrants
n Encouraging people to express diverse and
contrary opinions
n Being comfortable with making major
changes in how things are done
8. Focus
n Establishing concrete goals for curriculum,
instruction, and assessment practices within
the school
n Establishing concrete goals for the general
functioning of the school
n Establishing high, concrete goals, and
expectations that all students will meet them
n Continually keeping attention on established
goals
9. Ideals/Beliefs
n Possessing well-defined beliefs about
schools, teaching, and learning
n Sharing beliefs about school, teaching, and
learning with the staff
n Demonstrating practices that are consistent
with beliefs
10. Input
n Providing opportunities for staff to be involved
in developing school policies
n Providing for staff input on all important
decisions
n Using leadership teams in decision making
11. Intellectual Stimulation
n Continually exposing staff to cutting-edge
research and theory on effective schooling
n Keeping informed about current research and
theory on effective schooling
n Fostering systematic discussion regarding
current research and theory on effective
schooling
12. Involvement in Curriculum,
Instruction, and Assessment
n Being directly involved in helping teachers
design curricular activities
n Being directly involved in helping teachers
address assessment issues
n Being directly involved in helping teachers
instructional issues
13. Knowledge of Curriculum,
Instruction, and Assessment
n Possessing extensive knowledge about
effective instructional practices
n Possessing extensive knowledge about
effective curricular practices
n Possessing extensive knowledge about
effective assessment practices
n Providing conceptual guidance regarding
effective classroom practices
14. Monitoring/Evaluating
n Continually monitoring the effectiveness of he
school’s curricular, instructional, and
assessment practices
n Being continually aware of the impact of the
school’s practices on student achievement
15. Optimizer
n Inspiring teachers to accomplish things that
might be beyond their grasp
n Being the driving force behind major
initiatives
n Portraying a positive attitude about the ability
of staff to accomplish substantial things
16. Order
n Establishing routines for the smooth running
of the school that staff understand and follow
n Providing and reinforcing clear structures,
rules, and procedures for staff
n Providing and reinforcing clear structures,
rules, and procedures for students
17. Outreach
n Ensuring that the school complies with all
district and state mandates
n Being an advocate of the school with parents
n Being an advocate of the school with the
central office and school board
n Being an advocate of the school with the
community at large
18. Relationships
n Being informed about significant personal
issues within the lives of staff members
n Being aware of personal needs of teachers
n Acknowledging significant events in the lives
of staff members
n Maintaining personal relationships with
teachers
19. Resources
n Ensuring that teachers have the necessary
materials and equipment
n Ensuring that teachers have the necessary
staff development opportunities to directly
enhance their teaching
20. Situational Awareness
n Accurately predicting what could go wrong
from day to day
n Being aware of informal groups and
relationships among the staff
n Being aware of issues in the school that have
not surfaced but could create discord
21. Visibility
n Making systematic and frequent visits to
classrooms
n Having frequent contact with students
n Being highly visible to students, teachers,
and parents
Two Types of Change
n First Order Changes
q Day to day changes, incremental, the next obvious
step, solutions come from our experiences
q All 21 principal responsibilities are important but to
varying degrees – the top third are:
n Monitoring/Evaluating, Culture, Ideals/Beliefs, Knowledge
of and Involvement in Curriculum, Assessment, and
Instruction, Focus, and Order
q Managing the daily life of a school - handout
Two Types of Change
n Second Order Change - Innovation
q Dramatic departure from what is expected, both in
defining the problem and in finding a solution
q Unlike first order change, second order change is
linked to 7 of the 21 principal responsibilities
n Knowledge of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
n Optimizer
n Intellectual Stimulation
n Change Agent
n Monitoring/Evaluating
n Flexibility
n Ideals/Beliefs
Doing the Right Work
n School effectiveness is directly linked to the
principal’s ability select the right work
n Working hard but not smart
n The Right Work – factors that research and
experience tells us can be altered to improve
student achievement and learning and that
we can pay for
Factors that Impact Student Achievement
and Learning
n School-Level Factors
n Teacher-Level Factors
n Student-Level Factors
School-Level Factors
n Guaranteed and viable curriculum
n Challenging goals and effective feedback
n Parent and community involvement
n Safe and orderly environment
n Collegiality and professionalism
Teacher-Level Factors
n Instructional strategies
n Classroom management
n Classroom curriculum design
Student-Level Factors
n Home environment
n Learned intelligence and background
knowledge
n Motivation
A Plan for Effective Leadership
n Develop a strong school leadership team
n Distribute some responsibilities throughout
the team (handout 7.1)
n Select the right work (handout 7.2)
n Identify the order of magnitude implied by the
selected work (handout 7.3)
n Match the management style to the order of
magnitude of the change (handouts 7.4 and 7.5)
Reference
n Marzano, R.J., Waters, T., & McNulty, B.A. (2005). School Leadership that Works:
From Research to Results. Alexandria, Va. Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development.
