Download or read book Perceptions of Teacher Leaders on the Processes of Distributed Leadership in Relation to Student Achievement in High Performing Elementary Schools in the Urban Unified School District written by Alusine Conteh and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the educational reform process it is significant to acknowledge that effective leadership matters when it comes to school improvement activities. Educators are constantly faced with federal, state, and local district mandates: it would be unwise to consider the principal as the only individual to provide leadership for school improvement. Therefore, a distributive perspective to leadership is a paradigm shift with a central focus on leadership that is collectively shared by administrators and teachers. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore teacher leaders' perceptions on the distributive leadership practices and its possible impact on student outcomes. Data were collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with teacher leaders and principals from five participating school sites, ten teacher leaders responded to a paper-pencil anonymous surveys, field observations were completed at participating sites, and document review was completed which included California State Test (CST) report from three school years (2010 – 2012), and Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) scores for 2014-2015 school year. The distributed leadership concept offers a considerable platform for studying leadership as collective rather than an individual practice. Based on the literature, five conclusions were drawn and recommendations were made regarding implications for future practice. First, the findings indicated that the principal has a pivotal role to play in influencing distributed leadership practices which will have a positive impact on student achievement. Second, the findings revealed that teacher leaders were more inclined to participate in distributed leadership when they were encouraged by the principal and invited to perform leadership roles. Third, the findings also indicate that at these participating sites, there were structures within the organizations that harnessed teacher leadership – the ability to encourage colleagues to change, Fourth, the findings indicated that through collaborative practices, teacher leaders and principals were successful providing leadership for the participating school sites that led to positive impact on student outcomes. Last, the findings indicated that teacher leaders overwhelmingly shared they wanted to be considered as professionals by allowing them the freedom to practice instructional autonomy. The positive impact of "Enabling Others to Act" and "Inspiring a Shared Vision" implies that a distributive perspective may lead to school improvement.