Leadership Qualities, KPIs, and Conditions for School Improvement

This essay discusses the qualities of a good leader for school improvement, using Rossmoyne Senior High School as a case study. It evaluates whether regular school improvement is a worthy KPI for school leaders and whether leaders should take risks or play it safe when executing initiatives. The essay also assesses the mandatory conditions for ensuring a school leader's success in school improvement initiatives, covering aspects like visionary leadership, collaboration, passion, resource utilization, anti-discrimination, and empathy. Key performance indicators such as benchmarking assessments, student academic achievements, and attendance rates are also examined. The importance of infrastructure and management support for successful implementation of school improvement plans is highlighted.

LEADERSHIP FOR SCHOOL
IMPROVEMENT
1

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Qualities of a good leader for school improvements..................................................................3
Is regular school improvement a worthy KPI for leaders of school...........................................5
Should a good leader take risk, or play safe while executing initiatives for school
improvements..............................................................................................................................6
Evaluate the conditions which are mandatory for ensuring whether a school leader will
succeed in their school improvement initiatives.........................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
2

INTRODUCTION
Leadership is an ability or skill of an individuals, group or an organisation through which
they can lead or guide others which will help in accomplishing targets by using innovative ideas
and approaches (Bennis, & Thomas, (2020)). Through this skill, they can motivate others to
work towards the achievement of shared goal and leaders guide others and help in deciding
between right and wrong. School improvement in an activity which is performed by management
of the school through which they can make their school function more effectively which can be
in terms of academic outputs and it also helps in building and maintaining socio-cultural well-
being of all children's and adults within the school (Rosenbach, (2018)). The school chosen for
completion of this essay is Rossmoyne Senior High School which is a public co-educational high
day school. This school was founded in 1968 which focuses on providing quality education to
students. This project report has all necessary information of good leadership qualities and how
they can contribute in school improvements.
MAIN BODY
Qualities of a good leader for school improvements
Some of the qualities of a good leader through which they can make their school more
effective are stated below:
Visionary: A good leader for is visionary and they plan all things priorly through which
they can carry out the planned activities effectively which will help in meeting the outputs.
Vision is one of the most basic and important leadership quality, as it helps in planning and
providing a direction to other fellows. Rossmoyne Senior High School have leaders who share
their vision with the management through which they can plan improvement plans and activities
(Kraus, (2017)). The leaders of Rossmoyne Senior High School focus on guiding their staff
which will not let them diverted and thus it will also create a positive impact on the work and
overall performance of their students.
Create collaboration: Through inclusive learning, it helps the management of the school
to provide flexibility in learning choices which will help them in achieving educational goals and
they can also experience a sense of belonging (Bissola, Imperatori and Biffi, (2017)). A good
leader prioritize education and inclusive learning by maintaining safe environment through
which they can encourage collaboration among students and faculty. Rossmoyne Senior High
3

School participate in executing all activities which will bring change , improve services and new
course can also be set through which the development of all students can be done which will help
in enhancing their performance.
Passionate: As a leader, the basic skill they posses is they are passionate for their work
and for accomplishing their desired outcomes, and as an school leader they must have a great
impact on the culture of the school. Passionate leaders can encourage students to participate in all
activities and enhance their performance (Leithwood (2016)). Rossmoyne Senior High School
have leaders who are passionate for their work and focus on continuous improvement of students
and their performance which will enhance the overall productivity of the school.
Utilize all resources effectively: A successful school leader must be efficient in utilising
data effectively which involves standardised school assessments through which the management
can provide opportunities for all students equally (Mintrop,(2020)). Leaders of Rossmoyne
Senior High School monitor their resources and all the usage depends on the strategic plan
through which they can effectively and rationally utilise all resources which will help in
enhancing the overall performance of the school and in meeting all necessary requirements of the
students.
Encourage anti-discrimination: A good leader must not tolerate any discrimination
which help them to maintain healthy and positive environment in the school. Y not tolerating any
discrimination in the school, it will help in encouraging all people to willing participate in all
managerial activities (Anderson, (2017)). Leaders of Rossmoyne Senior High School focus on
breaking all stereotypes which are related to any kind of discrimination which is based on race,
religion, gender, colour, age and other responsible factors.
Empathetic: A good leader is empathetic as they have the skill and ability to listen and
understand the needs and requirements of others and these leaders are well aware about others
feelings and thoughts (Ravitch, (2016)). The leaders of Rossmoyne Senior High School are
empathetic as they focus on listening to their thoughts and opinions of their staff and their
students through which they can ensure that their opinions are valuable to the management
committee of the school and it will also enhance their willingness, participation and performance
of their students.
4

Is regular school improvement a worthy KPI for leaders of school
The evaluation of improvement in school can be measured by measuring student outputs
or performance and school practices and processes (Meyers & Hambrick Hitt, (2017)). Student
outcomes acts as evidence for school improvement as the performance of the students is
measured through which overall performance of students is evaluated. The continuous
improvements of school can be done through productive leadership skills who can allocate
resources and utilise all resources effectively. The leaders of Rossmoyne Senior High School
provide learning opportunities to their students and staff members through which they can
increase their engagement and thus it helps leaders to reduce absenteeism (DeWitt, (2017)).
Through continuous school improvement, school leaders can measure the performance and take
corrective measure which are necessary through which they can maintain effective performance
of students. Some of the key indicators of continuous school improvement are:
 Interim/ Benchmarking assessments- One of the key performance indicators for school
leaders is analysing and monitoring benchmarking assessments through which the
performance of all students and staff members can be evaluated (Ahmad, & Ghavifekr
(2017)).
 Student academic achievements- Through analysing the academic achievements of the
students, school leaders can check the status of the initiatives which were performed by
the school leaders of Rossmoyne Senior High School.
 Student and teacher attendance- Rossmoyne Senior High School leaders maintain
attendance records of students and teachers through which they can monitor the
participation of all students (Levenson, (2018)).
 Dropout rates- Rossmoyne Senior High School leaders maintain attendance of the
students and teachers which help them to monitor dropout rates through which they can
take corrective measure for preventing absenteeism and turnovers and maintain brand
image in the education sector and retain maximum number of student and staff.
Should a good leader take risk, or play safe while executing initiatives for school improvements
School leadership acts as one of the important factor for implementing school
improvement initiatives (Principal Perceptions Regarding the Impact of School-University
Partnerships in Primary Science Contexts. 2018). Innovative teaching and learning involves high
risk as it also benefits to build opportunities for learners to develop their knowledge and skills.
5

Through school leadership, leaders can bring the best out of teachers and students and improve
their performance through which they can improve overall performance of school by improving
performance of students and the staff. School leadership should be continuous and a good leader
must focus on developing knowledge and competencies through providing training and sessions.
A good leader must be able to provide learning opportunities to the students which will benefit in
improving their knowledge and creativity of the students (Mitchell, & Sackney, (2016)). The
leaders of Rossmoyne Senior High School focus on development of skills and knowledge of
their students through which they can shape their future and provide them opportunities of
learning and help them build their weakness into their strengths. The leaders of Rossmoyne
Senior High School also encourage students to wider their mind-set and think beyond the
boundaries through which they can also improve their decision making ability and channelizing
their priorities.
Through taking risk, leaders can enhance innovation and creativity of students though
which they can plan and form innovative ideas, whereas taking risk can sometimes cause
consequences to the students and can make their work more hectic and difficult (Leithwood,
(2016)). By taking risk the creativity of students can be improved, it can help leaders to
encourage students to willingly participate in all activities which are performed by the school for
improvement of their performance and they can create something better and new. As a good and
productive leader they must focus on talking risk sometimes as it can help in enhancing skills,
competencies and mind-set of students though which they can productively perform in their
academic section and they can willingly contribute in initiatives which are planned for the
improvement of the school (Partnerships in learning: A collaborative project between higher
education students and elementary school students. 2017). As a good leader, they must be able
and willing to take risk as it will help them to develop skills and students can enhance their
learning and encourage them to perform better in their academic sessions. As a good leader of
Rossmoyne Senior High School they channelize all requirements through which they can
organise training sessions. The leaders of Rossmoyne Senior High School are involved in risk
taking through which they can strengthen innovation and creativity of the students and this will
help in improving performance of their students and provide them opportunity for career
development (Hornby & Blackwell, 2018).
6

As a good leader they must be able to analyse the situations and act accordingly through
which they an effectively implement all initiatives through which school improvements can be
made. A good leader must play safe by planning all activities and plans through which they can
improve the performance of all students and staff (Cosner, & Jones, (2016)). A good leader must
implement some leadership theories through which they can organise and implement all
initiatives for improvement of the school. The leaders of Rossmoyne Senior High School prefer
playing safe as they focus on continuous development of the students and of the staff which will
help them to enhance overall productivity and performance of students and of overall school.
This will also help in retaining maximum number of students and will build and maintain
goodwill in the education sector (Dolph, (2017)). The leaders focus on providing all educational
requirements to their students through which they can improve their practical decision making
and their knowledge can be enhanced.
The leaders of Rossmoyne Senior High School follow different leadership styles through
which they can effectively implement the school improvement initiatives are:
 Coaching- Through providing coaching, the leaders of Rossmoyne Senior High School
focus on improving knowledge of students and offer them opportunities to learn new
things and concepts.
 Democratic leadership style-Through following democratic leadership, the leaders of
Rossmoyne Senior High School allow staff and students to share their thoughts and
opinions through which they can enhance their creativity and innovation (Mintrop,
(2020)).
Evaluate the conditions which are mandatory for ensuring whether a school leader will succeed
in their school improvement initiatives
The condition which ensure a school leader will succeed in accomplishment of targets
which are related to school improvements are:
 Infrastructure- The infrastructure of the school must be efficient as all the school
improvement initiatives which are formed by leaders can be performed effectively and as
basic requirements of the leaders can be met through which they can provide maximum
opportunities for students to enhance their skills and gain more knowledge (Sanders,
(2016)). The leaders of Rossmoyne Senior High School focus on infrastructural
7

development through which they can provide constructive training programs to the
students through which their knowledge can be improved.
 Support from management- The support from the management committee of the school
help leaders to perform effectively and form plans through which they can meet the
targets and enhance the lives of the students through providing them best opportunities
for learning and gaining more knowledge (Masters, (2016)). The leaders of Rossmoyne
Senior High School get full support from principal and other members of the school
through which they can contribute in the providing valuable training sessions to the
students which will help them in shaping future of students.
 Effective utilisation of resources- With the help of having resources and through
optimum utilisation of resources, school leaders can efficiently and effectively
accomplish the target through which skills of maximum students can be enhanced (Bush
& Glover (2016)). Rossmoyne Senior High School leaders identify the resources and
then strategically plan all events through which they can utilise all resources for training
students effectively.
 Training and development- Through providing accurate training and development to
the school leaders will help in delivering quality training sessions to students and staff
members through which school leaders can enhance students skills and provide them
opportunity to learn new things and gain maximum knowledge (Hallinger, (2018)).
Rossmoyne Senior High School leaders are provided effective training by which their
skills can be improved and they can contribute in providing effective training to the
students which will help them to become successful in their lives.
CONCLUSION
From the above project, it can be concluded that leadership in school can benefit in the
improvement of school through which school committee can maintain goodwill of the school in
the education sector. The leaders of school focus on continuous improvement in the school by
providing opportunities of training and enhancing their performance and their through process
through which students and staff can enhance their creative thinking and shape their future
effectively through which they can gain long term advantage.
8

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Ahmad, R. H., & Ghavifekr, S. (2017). School leadership for the 21st century: A conceptual
overview. MOJEM: Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Management, 2(1), 48-
61.
Anderson, M. (2017). Transformational leadership in education: A review of existing
literature. International Social Science Review, 93(1), 4.
Bennis, W. G., & Thomas, R. J. (2020). Crucibles of leadership. Harvard business review, 80.
Bissola, R., Imperatori, B. and Biffi, A., (2017). A rhizomatic learning process to create
collective knowledge in entrepreneurship education: Open innovation and collaboration
beyond boundaries. Management Learning, 48(2), pp.206-226.
Bush, T., & Glover, D. (2016). School leadership and management in South Africa: Findings
from a systematic literature review. International journal of educational management.
Cosner, S., & Jones, M. F. (2016). Leading school-wide improvement in low-performing schools
facing conditions of accountability. Journal of Educational Administration.
DeWitt, P. M. (2017). School climate: Leading with collective efficacy. Corwin Press.
Dolph, D. (2017). Challenges and opportunities for school improvement: Recommendations for
urban school principals. Education and Urban Society, 49(4), 363-387.
Hallinger, P. (2018). Bringing context out of the shadows of leadership. Educational
management administration & leadership, 46(1), 5-24.
Kraus, M. (2017). Comparing Generation X and Generation Y on their preferred emotional
leadership style. Journal of applied leadership and management, 5, 62-75.
Leithwood, K. (2016). Department-head leadership for school improvement. Leadership and
Policy in Schools, 15(2), 117-140.
Leithwood, K. (2016). Department-head leadership for school improvement. Leadership and
Policy in Schools, 15(2), 117-140.
Levenson, A. (2018). Using workforce analytics to improve strategy execution. Human Resource
Management, 57(3), 685-700.
Masters, G. N. (2016). National school improvement tool.
Meyers, C. V., & Hambrick Hitt, D. (2017). School turnaround principals: What does initial
research literature suggest they are doing to be successful?. Journal of Education for
Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 22(1), 38-56.
Meyers, C. V., & Hambrick Hitt, D. (2017). School turnaround principals: What does initial
research literature suggest they are doing to be successful?. Journal of Education for
Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 22(1), 38-56.
Mintrop, R. (2020). Design-based school improvement: A practical guide for education leaders.
Harvard Education Press.
Mintrop, R. (2020). Design-based school improvement: A practical guide for education leaders.
Harvard Education Press.
Mitchell, C., & Sackney, L. (2016). School improvement in high-capacity schools: Educational
leadership and living-systems ontology. Educational Management Administration &
Leadership, 44(5), 853-868.
Ravitch, D. (2016). The death and life of the great American school system: How testing and
choice are undermining education. Basic Books.
Rosenbach, W. E. (2018). Contemporary issues in leadership. Routledge.
9

Sanders, M. (2016). Leadership, partnerships, and organizational development: Exploring
components of effectiveness in three full-service community schools. School
Effectiveness and School Improvement, 27(2), 157-177.
10