Effects of Leadership on Student Success through the Balanced Leadership Framework

Abstract

Attempts have been made to identify behavior patterns peculiar to leadership by many institutions and organizations; also numerous studies have been conducted in this area. Of all these organizations, The Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) identifies the definitive standards of school leadership. Examining these standards in detail, Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) has developed new behavior patterns and focuses on student success related to school leadership; accordingly, in 1998 the Balanced Leadership Framework was suggested as a new leadership approach. In accordance with this framework, to know what to do is not generally considered sufficient to transform classes and schools. It is also significantly important for leaders to know why some actions are necessary, when they need to be applied, and how to apply them in classes and schools skillfully. Hence, the Balanced Leadership Framework has been developed to specify school leaders' own leadership behaviors and to benefit from the research aiming to establish effective school leaders. Thereby, McREL, after the meta-analysis, identifies 21 leadership responsibilities. In this study, after reviewing the literature, a qualitative analysis related to the 8 leadership responsibilities (Culture, Ideals and Beliefs, Communication, Visibility, Input, Relationships, Situational Awareness, Affirmation) that are necessary to form the Purposeful Community has been made. 15 teachers have been asked how leadership responsibilities affect student success and the results are discussed in this study. As a result, the effects of these 8 leadership responsibilities on student success have been clarified explicitly.