McREL’s 21 Leadership Responsibilities
McRel has identified 21 leadership responsibilities that are significantly associated with student achievement after analyzing studies conducted over a 30-year period. They have translated the results into a balanced leadership framework, which describes the knowledge, skills, strategies, and tools leaders need to positively impact student achievement. The meta-analysis identified 66 practices principals used to fulfill the 21 responsibilities as well. Principals can benefit from this list because the standards focus on what is essential. This list is a pared-down and more manageable set of standards compared to other frameworks. This type of clarity in the McREL model is useful because it helps principals prioritize the demands of the job by helping them focus first on the responsibilities and practices related with student achievement rather than attempting to fulfill every responsibility that someone deemed important regardless of its impact on learning. This framework provides a way to make a seemingly impossible job more manageable by making clear what is essential as well as what is important to know. When school leaders focus on the “right” school and classroom practices and accurately estimate the magnitude of the change they are leading, their leadership can positively affect student achievement. They must also accurately understand the magnitude of change implied by these efforts. They must be adept at meeting both first and second order changes.
This all sounds simple, however, learning what is essential is clearly easier than doing what is essential. The scope of these responsibilities is what contributes to the perception of the job of the principal as undoable. It seems like an overwhelming task for one individual. The dilemma faced by all principals is assuring that all-important responsibilities are fulfilled while focusing on what is essential to student achievement. As we all know, the principal has to wear many hats: manager, instructor, leader, organizer, collaborator, change agent, etc. Principals alone simply cannot fulfill all of the leadership responsibilities necessary for running a school not to mention maintaining student achievement. One approach to help with this is distributing leadership responsibilities to others, possibly a school-level leadership team. Professional development programs are crucial as well. McREL’s knowledge taxonomy may be a useful tool in this area.
As Harvard scholar Richard Elmore states in the McREL working paper; knowing the right thing to do is the central problem of school improvement. Holding schools accountable for their performance depends on having people in schools with the knowledge, skill, and judgment to make the improvements that will increase student performance. Administrators today face the tough task of moving their students forward in academic achievement, while many communities are challenged by poverty and the breakdown of the American family. Yet the standards and assessments have changed, increasing the pressure to succeed. Both knowledge and skills are crucial to this profession. McREL’s framework is a tool to help us achieve success.
In summary, McREL’s balanced leadership framework is the most comprehensive, rigorous, and useful integration of research and theory into a practical format available to education leaders today. It is a tool to help leaders to improve student achievement within their schools.
McREL’s 21 Leadership Responsibilities
1. Culture: Fosters shared beliefs and a sense of community and cooperation.
2. Order: Establishes a set of standard operating procedures and routines.
3. Discipline: Protects teachers from issues and influences that would detract from their teaching time and focus.
4. Resources: Provides teachers with materials and professional development necessary for the successful execution of their jobs.
5. Curriculum, instruction, and assessment: Is directly involved in the design and implementation of curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices.
6. Focus: Establishes clear goals and keeps those goals in the forefront of the school's attention.
7. Knowledge of curriculum, instruction, assessment: Is knowledgeable about current curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices.
8. Visibility: Has quality contact and interactions with teachers and students.
9. Contingent Rewards: Recognizes and rewards individual accomplishments.
10. Communication: Establishes strong lines of communication with teachers and among students.
11. Outreach: Is an advocate and spokesperson for the school to all stakeholders.
12. Input: Involves teachers in the design and implementation of important decisions and policies.
13. Affirmation: Recognizes and celebrates school accomplishments and acknowledges failures.
14. Relationship: Demonstrates an awareness of the personal aspects of teachers and staff.
15. Change agent: Is willing to and actively challenges the status quo.
16. Optimizer: Inspires and leads new and challenging innovations.
17. Ideals/beliefs: Communicates and operates from strong ideals and beliefs about schooling.
18. Monitors/evaluates: Monitors the effectiveness of school practices and their impact on student learning.
19. Flexibility: Adapts leadership behaviors to the needs of the current situation and is comfortable with dissent.
20. Situational awareness: Is aware of the details and undercurrents in the running of the school and uses this information to address current and potential problems.
21. Intellectual stimulation: Ensures that faculty and staff are aware of the most current theories and practices and makes the discussion of these a regular aspect of the school culture.
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