Defining and measuring the effectiveness of our interventions.
6 identified High Leverage Actions (HLAs) that inform all our programs
Context
Effective school leadership improves academic and socio-emotional student outcomes. Based on a review of the literature on school leadership and the on-gound experience of our partners, we identified six High Leverage Actions (HLAs) that can sustainably improve student outcomes across various cultural and policy contexts. We recommend our partners build their school leader professional development programs around these six High Leverage Actions. Because each High Leverage Action is complex, we suggest that school leaders are supported with a combination of relevant training content, participation in a peer community, and coaching to develop their skills.
The High Leverage Actions
The following six High Leverage Actions are likely to improve student outcomes across many different contexts:
-
Co-create a supportive culture of high expectations
-
Establish effective teaching practices
-
Build teacher skills through observation and feedback
-
Use data for continuous improvement
-
Share leadership across the school
-
Identify and disrupt inequitable patterns
We have developed a set of resources aligned with each of these High Leverage Actions. These resources can be used to facilitate learning or coaching sessions for school leaders, whether in-person or virtual. Our resources also include guides for our partners so that they can familiarize themselves with the details of each High Leverage Action and the research underpinning it.
The role of Content, Coaching and Community
While the High Leverage Actions are the core elements of our school leader professional development, the 3Cs inform how we approach school leader professional development. We know that workshops alone are not effective in supporting the learning of school leaders.
We believe that long-lasting impact can only be achieved when school leaders are:
-
Provided with relevant, actionable content.
-
Supported with coaching that helps them translate ideas and theory into practice.
-
Engaged with a professional learning community with whom they can share experiences.
We have seen programs work best when they have a combination of the 3 Cs. All programs include content, but community and coaching are also necessary.
Our next steps in interventions around the HLAs
As we adapt the HLAs in our operating countries, we are learning about the relevance of these actions in different contexts. We are also creating an assessment mechanism by which school leaders can determine their performance levels on each action and subsequently receive a guide to improve their practice.