Research

That Matters

Research That Matters is an annual publication highlighting faculty research at the University of Washington College of Education. This edition, Follow the Leaders: New Directions in Educational Policy, focuses on leadership. Effective leadership can make the difference between school systems providing powerful, equitable instruction for all students and those merely managing from crisis to crisis. This year’s issue spotlights work by College of Education faculty on learning-focused leadership.

Introduction.
All eyes are on the classroom, on instruction, on the quality of instruction that happens there. Is every child, regardless of background, getting what he or she needs to succeed? Educational leaders are looking at the hard numbers behind educational inequities and achievement gaps in urban classrooms and, with their jobs on the line and their students' futures at stake, they are devising new leadership strategies for 21st-century education.

Learning-Focused Leadership: Keeping the
Eye on the Ball
When the district superintendent showed up at a school at 7:30 a.m., everyone knew what to expect. First she gathered five students, picked at random, then she sat down and spent an hour talking with them about their work, their life in school, and what it meant for them to be learners in their classroom environment.

Data – A New Leadership Tool
Data-savvy district leaders made sure information was accessible and understandable to every educator in their districts. They brought in data specialists and assessment coordinators to help teachers and administrators interpret and use incoming streams of data. Teachers who learned to interpret data could use the information to evaluate their own practice and target areas needing improvement.

When Equal Is Not Equitable
Before long, more faculty had joined in regular evening sessions, as well as cooperating teachers from partner schools, principals and central office administrators. Connections were made, new relationships formed. And the busy hands — happy hands — freed minds for wide-ranging discussions about program renewal in the UW’s teacher education program.

one for the team thumb One for the Team
"The notion of heroic principalship today is unsustainable. One person cannot do it all," says UW professor Bradley Portin, director of the Education Program at the UW Bothell campus and an adjunct faculty member of the College of Education.

Moving Beyond Business and Business as Usual
"We'd be hard-pressed to find a superintendent today who didn't say his or her intent was to focus on supporting the improvement of teaching and learning throughout the district. Across the country, people know it's a priority — but there's a real gap in knowledge in explaining how you lead for that at the central office level," says College of Education associate professor Mike Copland

Making Connections Outside the Classroom
By the year 2025, nearly 25 percent of school-age children in America will be English language learners. Hard questions and often contentious debate surround the topic of how best to educate them. Should these students be taught simultaneously in their native language and English? Should they be taught first in their native language, then eased into English?