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Benchmark - Clinical Field Experience D: Leading Leaders in Giving Peer

Feedback Related to Teacher Performance

Aaron Mckee

Grand Canyon University College of Education

EAD-533 Developing and Empowering Instructional Leaders

Dr. James Russo

Due: March 8, 2023

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Develop and Supervise Instructional and Leadership Capacity

I spent time with a novice instructional leader at our school and participated with him and

a classroom teacher for a pre-conference, an observation, and finally for the post-conference with

the teacher. This leader showed curiosity during the pre-conference session by asking questions

and probing for understanding to make sure that he knew what specific goals or intentions the

teacher wanted feedback about after the evaluation. During the observation, his feedback was

written down while analyzing the teacher's performance against the observation tool. This

feedback included the quality of the equitable learning environment, the level of expectations set

by the teacher, how supportive the environment was in ways like students being willing to take

risks and congenial support from their teacher. Feedback also included how managed the

classroom was by way of students following classroom rules and showing respect for the teacher.

Transitions were also recorded as far as efficiency and minimal wasted time. The post

conference was the final portion, including informal talk and samples of student work. The

meeting included a satisfactory level of professionalism in keeping with school culture. It

resembled portions of a formative style coaching process, which is an approach that uses the

student’s work as the foundation for where to start in mentoring. Student work is analyzed to

determine the next steps for instruction (The Principal as Formative Coach: GCU (Grand Canyon

University) Library Resources - All Subjects, 2023).

Develop Leaders for High-Quality Instruction and Student Learning

This process helped me to see that developing leaders within the school multiplies

desired outcomes. The school is no longer bottlenecked with just a few administrators trying to

accomplish the instructional leadership by themselves. Instead, they can focus the entire staff at
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the school on providing high-quality instruction and effective student learning. Having one

mission and many leaders recognizes that authority does not only rest with one key individual

but allows distributed authority. This kind of structure leverages collective skill sets and fosters a

breeding ground for new leaders and creates the benefits of leveraging pooled skills and

knowledge while improving communication in making it safe to put forth innovative ideas and

take ownership of initiatives (Need to Move Faster and Smarter? Level up with Distributed

Leadership, 2021). There is a focus on empowerment and shared vision. Using this method, a

school can encourage a more collaborative culture that supports educator growth and student

learning. Leaders can access research to improve each other’s practice and promote a culture of

continuous improvement. These leaders can also help improve instruction and student learning

by helping implement assessments for school or district improvement. Other roles include

improving outreach and collaboration with families and the community and advocating for

student learning and the profession. (Building the “Bridge”: Teacher Leadership for Learning

and Distributed Orga...: GCU Library Resources - All Subjects, 2018).

Distributed Leadership Structure and Recommendations

It is a smaller school with a leadership team consisting of one principal, two teacher

leaders, and two office administrators. They are instrumental in decision making and serve as a

school guiding team. I would recommend having more people available to perform the

leadership tasks. To do this successfully, the team leader needs to share the desired outcomes,

but allow others to figure out how they are going to accomplish that. This could be difficult

because not everyone will make decisions the same way that the leader would, but if it

accomplishes the same result then it will be more sustainable to have the leadership
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responsibilities distributed and spread across a larger group of instructional leaders. This will

have the added advantage of multiplying the positive effects of cross-training. Though In a

centralized leadership environment, it is natural for senior leaders to step up and lead, the

opposite is true within a distributed leadership model (Need to Move Faster and Smarter? Level

up with Distributed Leadership, 2021). This model would transfer leadership responsibilities

instead of formal positions. It would entail a stronger team of teacher leaders who realize that to

achieve their potential, numerous leaders—teachers, principals, and formal teacher leaders—

need to coordinate their efforts toward educational advancement. Next, I recommend promoting

a culture of being open to discussion and recommendation as a normal part of their experience.

Lastly, I would entreat instructional leaders to negotiate access to classrooms regularly and

encourage instructional changes even in the face of potential resistance to improve the structure

(Mangin, 2005).
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References:

Building the “Bridge”: Teacher Leadership for Learning and Distributed Orga...: GCU Library

Resources - All Subjects. (2018). Oclc.org. https://eds-p-ebscohost-

com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=ddebd8ef-db1b-4245-ab16-

d882e2c1cf0f%40redis

Mangin, M. M. (2005). Distributed Leadership and the Culture of Schools: Teacher Leaders’

Strategies for Gaining Access to Classrooms. Journal of School Leadership, 15(4), 456–

484. https://doi.org/10.1177/105268460501500405

‌Need to Move Faster and Smarter? Level Up with Distributed Leadership. (2021). Betterup.com.

https://www.betterup.com/blog/distributed-leadership

The Principal as Formative Coach: GCU Library Resources - All Subjects. (2023). Oclc.org.

https://eds-p-ebscohost-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?

vid=2&sid=ddebd8ef-db1b-4245-ab16-d882e2c1cf0f%40redis