Description
Book SynopsisDeveloping Rural School Leaders combines a focus on rural education and school leadership development to illustrate how the teaching and learning conditions in rural schools can be enhanced through transformative leadership coaching. By unpacking literature related to rural school leadership development and using case studies to authentically illustrate the complexities involved in rural school leadership development, this book explores how leaders can develop their abilities to increase data-informed instructional decision making, create a culture that supports teaching and learning, and develop other leaders. Ultimately, this important book concludes with an exploration of the opportunities and challenges of developing rural school leaders.
Trade Review"Developing Rural School Leaders highlights the importance of job-embedded, contextually-relevant leadership through the development and application of a transformational leadership coaching model in rural school districts. Based on a three-year, research-practice partnership, the book makes a valuable contribution to rural school leadership development by demonstrating how university-district partnerships can build capacity and enhance professional learning in rural schools. As someone who for almost two decades has been working with rural schools to develop leadership pipelines, I found the information in this book to be highly compelling and timely."
- Dr. Bonnie C. Fusarelli, Professor of Educational Leadership and Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, College of Education, North Carolina State University
"In this leading-edge book, Klar and Huggins offer a comprehensive examination of rural school leadership. Their Leadership Learning Community (LLC) model provides an evidence-based leadership coaching strategy that brings equitable learning opportunities to rural leaders and their school communities. Three leadership cases chronicle compelling evidence of LLC success, applied in an innovative research-practice partnership. Because opportunities for high-quality professional development for school leaders is particularly limited in rural contexts, the model posits transformational leadership coaching as a promising set of strategies to sustainably improve and reculture rural schools."
- Dr. Kristina A. Hesbol, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Morgridge College of Education, University of Denver and Co-Founder of the Rural Innovative School Leadership Networked Improvement Community
"Leading rural schools is a demanding and lonely endeavor. In this insightful and practical book, Klar and Huggins examine both the challenges and opportunities of rural school leadership. With the Leadership Learning Community model, they offer an evidence-based coaching strategy as a means of providing rural leaders with high-quality professional networking."
- Dr. Barbara Nesbitt, Assistant Superintendent for Technology Services, School District of Pickens County, South Carolina
"Developing Rural School Leaders is the first book of its kind that does a deep dive in developing rural school leadership through transformational coaching. This is a must read for all leaders, and should be required reading for those working with our nation's youth in rural communities. As a current superintendent of a rural school district, this book accurately depicts the current reality and challenges of rural school leadership and the contextual complexities and concerns associated with improving teaching and learning. The authors provide pragmatic steps for addressing these concerns by developing leaders, and thereby closing the learning and opportunity gaps between our students. I only wish this book where available at the beginning of my current assignment."
- Dr. Kenneth Chris Hurst Sr., Superintendent, Othello School District, Othello, Washington
Table of ContentsList of Tables and Figures
Foreword by Sally J. Zepeda
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I. A Review of the Literature on Aspects of Rural School Leadership Development
Chapter 1. What is the rural school leadership context?
Chapter 2. What should rural school leaders be developed to do?
Chapter 3 How can rural school leaders be developed?
Chapter 4 What is an effective model for developing rural school leaders?
Part II: Case Studies of Rural School Leadership Development
Chapter 5. Learning to Increase Data-Informed Instructional Decisions
Chapter 6. Learning to Improve the Culture of Teaching and Learning to Increase Teacher Leadership
Chapter 7. Learning to Develop Other Leaders
Chapter 8 What are the opportunities for and challenges of developing rural school leaders through transformational leadership coaching?
Appendix A. LLC Participants
Appendix B. Protocol for Visiting LLC Leaders' Schools
Appendix C. LLC Coaching Protocol
Appendix D. LLC Debriefing Protocol
Appendix E. LLC Action Research Cycle Background Information
Appendix F. LLC Action Research Planning Template
Appendix G. LLC Progress Update Protocol
Appendix H. LLC Leader Interview Protocol
Appendix I. LLC Coach Interview Protocol
