District Leadership That Works: Striking the Right Balance

by Robert J. Marzano, Timothy Waters

Bridge the great divide between distanced administrative duties and daily classroom impact. This book introduces a top-down power mechanism called defined autonomy , a concept that focuses on district-defined, nonnegotiable, common goals and a system of accountability supported by assessment tools. Defined autonomy creates an effective balance of centralized direction and individualized empowerment that allows building-level staff the stylistic freedom to respond quickly and effectively to student failure.
Chapter 1: Does District Leadership Matter?
Chapter 2: Putting Our Findings in Perspective
Chapter 3: Setting and Monitoring Nonnegotiable Goals for Achievement
Chapter 4: Setting and Monitoring Nonnegotiable Goals for Instruction
Chapter 5: Collaborative Goal Setting, Board Alignment, and Allocation of Resources
Chapter 6: Defined Autonomy in a High-Reliability District
Chapter 7: The Perils and Promises of Second-Order Change

Genres: Education, Leadership

176 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published April 1, 2009

Reviews

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

An evidence-based argument that district leadership does impact student performance, and what district leaders can do to help shape practice and policy to make the most impact for their students. A number of helpful examples are included that could be used as templates for implementation.

Recommended to those interested in education, data-driven policies, leadership, or change management.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. Clear, research-based findings that are explained in a user-friendly way. I will definitely be looking into Marzano's School Leadership book as I look towards my dissertation.

[Michael DeCaprio · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rehash of other Mcrel work. Instead read Simply Better, Classroom Instruction that Works, and Building Leadership that Works.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marzano and Waters provide another meta-analytic work that promotes the need for collaborative goal-setting among all stakeholders in education systems. It also identifies the important role of district leadership in areas such as accountability and professional development. Definitely a necessary read for potential and current school leaders.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you detect a theme from what I am currently reading professionally? We've decided to focus for the next three years on district improvement/reform and I'm trying to read as much as I can about that. If you have any other books to recommend, please share. In the meantime, I'll keep you posted on my learnings.

[Dave Moyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very solid account of district level school leadership practices that positively impact student achievement.

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uh, yeah...over-hyped! Hard to replicate in reality.