09/02/03

     In our ongoing effort to raise student achievement and improve learning environments in our schools, the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) Pacific hosted a summer conference for all principals. The conference is part of a five-year leadership development program entitled Leading Learning, which is designed to strengthen the knowledge and skills necessary for administrators to become expert instructional leaders, able to guide school improvement and standards implementation in DoDDS Pacific.

     The conference focused on two areas of instructional leadership: building administrators’ skills in supervising standards-based curriculum and instruction; and leading, supporting and participating in collaborative activities aimed at improving instruction and student achievement in standards-based classrooms. Principals became acquainted with a teacher self-assessment tool, the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Quality Indicator Map, which identifies indicators of quality instruction in a standards-based classroom. They also gained valuable insights into how looking at samples of student work enables teachers to improve instructional practice. The conference provided instructional leaders an opportunity to look at various ways performance assessment can inform instruction and deepen our understanding of student learning. By participating in interactive sessions, principals developed the skills needed to build schools founded on a sense of shared responsibility and shared leadership for student learning.

     This year principals will focus on a variety of culture building activities that promote professional learning in their schools, to include leading and participating in study groups, promoting leadership teams for wider participation in decision making, and encouraging teachers to engage in a structured and systematic practice of looking at student work.

      The DoDDS Pacific focus on developing strong instructional leaders is based on the DoDEA emphasis on implementing standards-based curriculum and instruction, national educational trends in accountability for standards-based reform, and the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) Standards for School Leaders. Leading Learning supports the evolving role of the school administrator from “building manager” to “instructional leader.”

     By providing professional development opportunities to our instructional leaders, we are affirming our belief in developing strong learning environments, and our commitment to Goal 1, Highest Student Achievement, of the DoDEA Community Strategic Plan.

Nancy C. Bresell
Director, DoDDS Pacific