2012 UCEA Convention

Developing a Conceptual Framework for Leadership of Common Core State Standards Implementation. John Filippi, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Curricular standards developed away from the implementation site create tension between the policy intent of the standards and the implementing actors at the site of implementation. The increasingly centralized nature of the Common Core State Standards exacerbates this tension. This proposed Ignite session puts forward a conceptual framework for leadership inspired by tenets of policy implementation theory and distributed leadership. Questions to guide research and professional practice will be posed to guide discussion.

How can educational leaders learn to become more holistically democratic? Philip Woods, University of Hertfordshire; Glenys Woods, FreeSpirit Education
How can school leaders move away from conventional, performatively driven hierarchy to more democratic leadership practices that nurture learning as whole people? This presentation tells the story to date of an innovative approach to leadership development - the degrees of democracy framework rooted in holistic democracy. It highlights the energies for reflection and change that leaders’ creative engagement with the holistic democracy model is able to tap into.

Leadership, Policy,and Politics: Advocacy Leadership for Shifting Contexts. Sarah G. Hale, University of Iowa
School leaders face increasing challenges as the shifting landscape of policy impacts day-to-day functioning of schools. Though constructs such as instructional leadership, distributed leadership, and transformative leadership have worked to redefine the professional expectations of educational leaders, the current political landscape requires more from leaders. This paper uses policy initiatives such as the Common Core State Standards and Race to the Top to explore requirements for contemporary school leaders.

Leading for learning: Looking beyond the idiom to an awareness of research and practitioner interpretations. Kathrine Gutierrez, The University of Oklahoma
Presentation on the ubiquitous topic “Leading for Learning” and positing the connection to research and practitioner experiences. Salient research and practitioner perspectives about their leadership values, beliefs, and ideals: What is a leader for learning? What specifically is being done by practitioners that embody leading for learning? How/why is learning being focused on by these practitioners? How do initiatives as NCLB and Common Core support or hinder practitioners to be an effective leader for learning?