New online survey from McREL uses research to evaluate effectiveness of school principals
October 17, 2005
Aurora, Colo. — Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) announced today the development of a new online survey designed to help school principals determine how well their leadership practices align with those of effective principals identified in McREL's research on school-level leadership.
The online Balanced Leadership Profile 360T (www.educationleadershipthatworks.org) survey gathers information from three perspectives: principals, teachers, and principals' supervisors. The 360-degree feature enables principals to identify differences among their own leadership behaviors and the perceptions of staff members and supervisors.
The 92-item survey also includes items designed to gauge how teachers perceive improvement efforts underway in their schools - that is, whether teachers view such efforts as small, incremental changes or as more complex changes that are likely to require principals to emphasize a different set of leadership responsibilities.
To help principals use the survey results to become better school leaders, the new website also provides principals with a wide array of professional development resources.
The survey is based on McREL's meta-analysis of 30 years of research examining the impact of school leadership on student achievement, reported in the new publication School Leadership that Works: From Research to Results (Marzano, Waters & McNulty, 2005). The research study, the largest-ever study of school leaders, identified 21 leadership responsibilities that are significantly correlated with higher levels of student achievement.
"Our research on school leaders makes it clear that principals can have a profound impact on student achievement. This survey answers the increasingly loud call for research-based guidance to help school leaders become more effective in helping all students achieve," said Tim Waters, McREL's President and CEO.
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McREL is a nationally recognized, private, nonprofit organization
located in Aurora, Colo., dedicated to improving education for all
students through applied research, product development and service.
Its staff of highly respected educators and researchers focuses
on providing educators and policymakers with the highest quality,
field-tested, research-based products and services available in
PreK–16 education.
