Becoming the Instructional Leader of Your Building
A Critical Action Guide

Dr. John Hattie’s work in Visible Learning (2009) reveals that not all practices are equal in terms of positive impact on student achievement. While almost everything in education works, the important questions are to what degree and is that the degree of improvement acceptable? Regarding leadership, we know with a high degree of certainty that some practices have more positive impact on improving student achievement than others. In Dr. Hattie’s article, High Impact Leadership, (2015), he reveals those leadership practices that have a high effect size. Leaders who do these things make the most difference:

Create safe and collaborative environments for learning
Emphasize and model monitoring and evaluation of the impact of the building’s focus work
Strive continually for improvement

The materials found in this course focus on helping the building instructional leader immediately implement those critical actions necessary to develop structures and practices that bring about the most impact on student achievement. This course is not intended to be a comprehensive leadership package; rather, it is a guide designed to offer specific, critical actions to help the building leader “get started” in becoming the true instructional leader of the school. For specific instructions on using these materials, click here to go to an overview of this course.

Learner Objectives:

How will the educational leader:

Promote a culture that is safe for collaboration?
Gain knowledge and understanding of research-based effective teaching/learning practices?
Gain knowledge and understanding regarding the importance and use of common formative assessments to drive instruction?
Determine the current reality of the building through the use of data?

Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hattie, J. (2015). High impact leadership. Educational Leadership, 72(5). 36-40.

Participant and Presenter Materials

Participant Materials

Participant Handouts

This handout packet for participants includes additional useful tools to start becoming an instructional leader.

Handout Packet

Pre/Post Educator-Learner Assessments

Pre and post-assessments are a component of high quality professional development. It is recommended that all consultants and other trainers/facilitators use them as they tailor their professional development for their audience. The pre/post assessment and the answer key are posted below for downloading and administering.

Instructional Leadership Pre-Post Assessment with Answer Key