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895 Paper - Aera 2016 Mmitchell
895 Paper - Aera 2016 Mmitchell
895 Paper - Aera 2016 Mmitchell
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SDH
ADVOCACY LEADERSHIP FOR 21ST CENTURY LEARNING 2
Abstract
consequences that affect the nature of student learning (Au, 2007). Educational leaders can serve
21st century learning initiatives (Kay & Greenhill, 2011). The proposed qualitative study will
use interview data to explore how educational leaders facilitate 21st century learning
opportunities for students in a district that has recently adopted this vision. Nine participants
from various leadership roles will be interviewed in order to understand specific structures and
strategies for implementing 21st century initiatives. These insights will contribute to
understandings of how educational leaders can advocate for relevant learning experiences for
students (Anderson, 2009; Kay & Greenhill, 2011). Commented [SH3]: Good
ADVOCACY LEADERSHIP FOR 21ST CENTURY LEARNING 3
the tool for measuring student learning systematically incurs other unintended consequences (Au,
2007; Hursh, 2007; Cohen-Vogel & McLendon, 2009). These consequences include: the failure
curricular content, student disengagement, and the deprofessionalization of teaching (Au, 2007;
Hursh, 2007; Cohen-Vogel & McLendon, 2009). The emphasis of basing educational decisions
child to a single test score does not recognize the myriad ways teachers develop their students; an
economic perspective (Hanushek, 2009) simply cannot demonstrate the individual learning of a Commented [SH4]: Hanushek conducts economic
analysis, but not completely sure this claim should be
attributed to him?
given child (Desimone, 2009). Additionally, standardized assessments are often poorly
constructed and lack sufficient validity and reliability (Popham, 2007). In considering the
growing impact of educational accountability in the past several decades (Resnick, 1980;
Resnick, 1981; Thomas & Brady, 2005), it is important for educational leaders to not only
recognize the characteristics and adverse impacts of standardized assessment, but also advocate
for reducing the detriment they cause to students (Anderson, 2009). Commented [SH5]: Strong introductory paragraph that
clearly outlines the problem! Nicely done.
The curricular effects of standardized assessment are consequences that directly impact
the lives and educational experiences of students (Au, 2007). School reformers that recognize
these impacts have highlighted the need for students, teachers, and schools to engage in 21st
century learning, which includes the practice and application of skillsets that students need to
ADVOCACY LEADERSHIP FOR 21ST CENTURY LEARNING 4
prepare for their professional futures (Kay & Greenhill, 2011; Kay & Greenhill, 2012; Voogt &
Roblin, 2012). These skillsets include collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical
thinking and such skillsets are not easily measured through our current assessment paradigm
based in standardized tests (Kay & Greenhill, 2011, Kay & Greenhill, 2012; Voogt & Roblin,
2012). It is clear that there is a tension and misalignment between the types of instructional
activities students should be engaging in at the classroom level and the types of classroom
activities that standardized assessment and our system of accountability encourages (Au, 2007;
Kay & Greenhill, 2011; Kay & Greenhill, 2012; Voogt & Roblin, 2012).
This issue is critically important for educational leaders, who should serve as an
educational advocate for all students (Anderson, 2009). Educational leaders, including school
based administrators, instructional coaches, teacher leaders, and district and state level
administrators, are critical to influencing the instruction and assessment that occur within
classrooms, which in turn, directly impacts student learning (Leithwood, Seashore Louis,
Anderson, & Wahlstrom, 2004). These leaders have the responsibility to be aware of the ways in
which accountability affects students holistically; not just in terms of academic outcomes, but
The purpose of this proposed qualitative study is to understand how educational leaders
can serve as advocacy leaders by exploring the ways in which leaders mitigate the negative
effects of standardized assessment and promote 21st century learning activities. Commented [SH6]: Great opening section! Clearly
identifiable purpose statement. Will a research question or
two guide this study?
Theoretical Frameworks
This study incorporates two theoretical frameworks: 21st century learning (cite) and
advocacy leadership (cite). The 21st Century Learning framework is a set of practices that are
based onin the premise that content knowledge is not the main goal of educating our youth; we
ADVOCACY LEADERSHIP FOR 21ST CENTURY LEARNING 5
need to be providing students with an entire toolbox of skills that are necessary to compete in
todays competitive, global economy (Kay & Greenhill, 2011; Kay & Greenhill, 2012; Voogt &
Roblin, 2012). These 21st century skills include being creative, collaborative, communicative,
and innovative and were derived from actual employers and professional organizations that
exemplify the nature of todays dynamic industries (Kay & Greenhill, 2011; Kay & Greenhill,
2012; Voogt & Roblin, 2012). As the gap between what we are providing students within the
classroom and the skills they need in order to be successful widens, it will be important to
understand the work of multiple levels of educational leaders in following through on the vision
of promoting 21st century teaching and learning (Neumerski, 2012). Advocacy lLeadership is a
framework for understanding the role of educational leaders in addressing issues through the lens
of promoting equity and justice for all students (Anderson, 2009). This framework calls for
leaders to recognize the inherent injustices of neoliberal educational reform and adopt a new
leadership vision that is student centered (Anderson, 2009). Educational leaders can serve as the
gatekeepers for mitigating the effects of national and state policies that promote inequity and can
advocate for an instructional direction within schools that benefit all students (Anderson, 2009;
Neumerski, 2012). These frameworks characterize the lens through which this study addresses
the problem of our current test centric culture. Commented [SH7]: Well done.
This study is a qualitative research design (Merriam, 2009) and will be conducted within
a large Mid-Atlantic school district in the United States. This school district was selected
because it has recently adopted a vision and mission to provide students with more frequent and
coaches, and teacher leaders in the school district that are purposefully selected (Glesne, 2011) as Commented [SH8]: Are these individuals in central office
or located in schools throughout the district?
ADVOCACY LEADERSHIP FOR 21ST CENTURY LEARNING 6
having directly developed or implemented the district initiative for 21st century learning. Commented [SH9]: Good, but what are the criteria for
determining this?
Potential participants will be directly contacted at the district level and snowball sampling
(Glesne, 2011) will be used to lead to other potential participants in educational leadership roles. Commented [SH10]: Okay, you address my previous
questions here.
These sampling techniques will be utilized until nine participants representing a variety of Commented [SH11]: Why nine?
Each participant will participate in a semi-structured interview at their respective work Commented [SH12]: How long will the interviews be?
process of implementing 21st century learning activities, and their actions and intentions for
supporting this type of instruction. Teacher leaders will be asked about their perception of the Commented [SH13]: By whom? The researcher? Be clear
about that here.
impact of standardized assessment on their teaching and student learning, their own perceived
obstacles in implementing 21st century learning, their understandings of how 21st century
instruction is supported within their school, their insights as to what could be done to better
support 21st century frameworks within a school, and their experiences with student outcomes
that derive from 21st century instruction. Interviews will last approximately one hour. Commented [SH14]: Oh, its here. Maybe include in your
first mention of interviews.
Results
It is expected that this study will yield information regarding the ways in which leaders
may manipulate structures within their schools, provide professional development and
continuing training, and develop mentoring programs and collaborative opportunities in order to
facilitate the implementation of 21st century skills in the classroom (Kay & Greenhill, 2011).
Educational leaders and teacher leaders will be able to provide specific examples as to how these
ADVOCACY LEADERSHIP FOR 21ST CENTURY LEARNING 7
and other types of support work within their school, and may also provide insight for additional
Significance
consequences for students (Au, 2007; Hursh, 2007; Cohen-Vogel & McLendon, 2009).
Educational leaders must take a stance of advocacy in order to promote practices that benefit all
students and equalize opportunities for students within schools and in their future careers
(Anderson, 2009). By advocating for a 21st century learning framework, educational leaders may
support a vision that is constructed around developing relevant skillsets that breed innovation
and opportunity for young people in a competitive, globalized world (Kay & Greenhill, 2011;
References
Anderson, G. (2009). Advocacy leadership: Toward a post-reform agenda in education. New Formatted: Font: Italic
York: Routledge.
Desmione, L. (2009). Complementary methods for policy research. In G. Sykes, B. Schneider &
D.N. Plank (Eds.), Handbook of Education Policy Research (163-175). NY: Routledge.
Glesne, C. (2011). Becoming qualitative researchers: An introduction (4th ed.). Upper Saddle
Hanushek, E. A. (2009). The economic value of education and cognitive skills. In G. Sykes, B.
Schneider & D.N. Plank (Eds.), Handbook of Education Policy Research (39-56). NY:
Routledge.
Hursh, D. (2007). Assessing No Child Left Behind and the rise of neoliberal education
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& D. Gut (Eds.), Bringing schools into the 21st century (pp. 41-65). Netherlands:
Springer. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0268-4_3
Kay, K. & Greenhill, V. (2012) The leaders guide to 21st century education: 7 steps for schools
and districts (pp. xiii-23). New Jersey: Pearson Resources for 21st Century Learning.
ADVOCACY LEADERSHIP FOR 21ST CENTURY LEARNING 9
Leithwood, K.. Seashore Louis, K.. Anderson, S., & Wahlstrom, K. (2004). How leadership
principal, teacher, and coach instructional leadership, and where should we go from here?
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