Preparing Educational Leaders to Close Achievement Gaps

Abstract

For more than 25 years, researchers have described the critical roles leaders play in creating effective schools and school districts. If U.S. schools are to close achievement gaps, their leaders must possess the appropriate knowledge, dispositions, and skills to assume these critical roles. The Interstate School Leadership Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) standards inform the preparation and continued professional development of school administrators. These standards address six broad areas influencing student learning, including vision, culture, management, community relationships, ethics, and the larger political, economic, legal, and cultural context. The attributes of leaders in schools that have closed achievement gaps fit within these six comprehensive standards; however, critical nuances could easily be lost in the broad categories. In a manner that adds depth and specificity to the ISLLC standards, the authors of this article describe the specific knowledge, dispositions, and performances demonstrated by leaders in schools and districts that have closed achievement gaps.