Abstract:

Amidst the struggle for adequate funding, attaining and retaining qualified teachers, and the ever-growing student population, student achievement by far remains the greatest challenge for school administrators. Policy makers, school and district leaders, and researchers are all increasingly concerned with improving the quality of evidence about the effectiveness of instructional delivery, especially in terms of its impact on desired reform outcomes. To begin to address the academic performance of students within a school district, an instructional plan that serves as a roadmap of creating exemplary student achievement is needed. The plan should focus on instructional strategies in the areas of content standards, curriculum, instruction, assessment, and parental involvement which support the national education goals identified in the Goals 2000 legislation. Essential to achieving the goals of the plan would be to reorganize how school administrators focus specifically on implementing and monitoring content standards and systematically organizing and engaging all personnel, within the school, in coordinating, executing, and evaluating the instructional plan. In addition, school administrators need to provide support and direction for increasing overall student achievement and closing the achievement gap between minority and non-minority students. Finally, school administrators must assess and restructure specific instructional programs and assessment tools that generate opportunities for greater instructional effectiveness, as well as, increasing the level of parental and community involvement in the instructional process. Standards must be put into practice at all levels before they can make a significant difference in student achievement.

A suggested framework for school administrators to use to improve the management of instructional delivery and increase accountability in a content standards-based environment is revealed in answering the following questions supported with recommended actions:

How will you assure that every teacher is knowledgeable about the content standards?
How will you monitor the implementation of the content standards in classroom instruction?

How will you monitor that assessment effectively assesses application of the content standards?
How will you develop and implement a coordinated plan for instructional support?
How will you be sure that academic and grade level teams, as well as departments are using the content standards appropriately in their collaborative planning sessions?
How will you make your families and community aware of the revised content standards and their role in instruction?

Extracting and understanding the implication of standards and implementing a content-standard based instructional program with fidelity are imminent. The core work and conversation and collaborative effort of school leaders, staff, and parents, are the effective coordination and implementation of content-standards based instruction across all grade levels and content areas within the school.

Keywords:

principal, leadership, standards.