Meeting the Needs of All Students: Contributions of Effective School Leaders

Abstract

A policy implementation study 1 was undertaken in 65 schools in order to explore practices and outcomes related to state policies requiring schools to establish comprehensive educational support systems and teams. The purpose of these systems and teams was to enhance the capacity of schools to support students with diverse needs in general education classrooms to the greatest extent possible. A focus of the study related to the ways in which school principals played a role in facilitating the development of effective support systems and teams. The following four themes related to school leadership emerged in schools identified as the most highly developed in their efforts to support all students: (1) fostering shared vision, planning, and decision-making processes; (2) creating collaborative structures and processes; (3) using data to make decisions about curriculum and instruction; and (4) understanding and utilizing policy to create comprehensive school and districtwide systems. Each of these themes points to potential implications for the content and approaches used in leadership preparation programs.