Introduction
The insatiable quest to determine what would be effective in the improvement of student performance in schools has led to numerous researches on the same. A study by Jossey-Bass Reader deliberates on the topic and gives insight on the connection between leadership in school and student achievement. Chapter fifteen of the book The Jossey-Bass Reader on Educational Leadership remains adamant that leadership is the main component in improving student performance. The book insists that effective leaders are responsible for the promotion of better teaching (Fullan, 2013).Leadership in school helps improve the performance of students in school and is second to instructions issued in classrooms and factors related to school that leads to school outcomes. Four crucial elements of leadership eventually affect the performance of the student. The elements include a rationale, emotions path, organizational path, and the family path. The four are the critical components of leadership that ultimately direct the performance of students in school.
Rationale
The rational path or aspect of leadership in school entails the variables of knowledge and skills that the school staffs has on curriculum, teaching, and learning (Fullan, 2013). It calls for the positive exercising of the variables to ensure that school leaders have sufficient knowledge concerning the core of schooling and capacities to solve problems.
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Emotional Path
Emotions give direction to cognition and thus structure both perception and attention giving preferential access to certain memories and judgment. It thus enables individuals to have a productive response to the environment they dwell in and around. In fact, recent studies on student learning recommend teachers to put focus to variables along the emotional path to improve student learning (Fullan, 2013). However, the emotional path is heavily dependent on the skills of the leaders in a social setting.
Organizational Path
The organizational structure suggests that such variables as structure, policies, standards, and culture influence or rather make up the working conditions of the teachers. Having such, influence entails that the variables also have great influence on the emotions of the teachers. Moreover, they make up the infrastructure of the school and a great proportion of the collective memory (Fullan, 2013). However, organizational paths fail to receive sufficient attention until a malfunction occurs. But it is crucial that such variables be checked and ensured they are in their efficient form to improve and sustain the performance of the school.
Family path
According to Nelson and Sassi Fullan (2013), improving student learning has a lot to do with the improvement of instruction. It is well to acknowledge that almost fifty percent of the emotional and organizational paths with all their variations date back to the family. The family path is a very significant advantage for the school leaders because only 20% of what is done within school premises affects student achievement (Fullan, 2013).
Addressing the conditions
The above conditions entail what is required for student improvement. Well, the school is charged with the uphill task of addressing each one of them. According to Grogan (2013), the school must improve the strategy for the educational leadership in school via licensing and induction, evaluation of performance, supporting leaders and improving the working conditions.
Licensing and induction involve the assessment of leaders on professional knowledge by the licensing and induction programs. It is imperative to do this because it ascertains of the ability of the leaders to show sufficient knowledge of their profession before taking up their positions.
Evaluation of performance insists that various states have different guidelines for performance evaluation of school leaders (Fullan, 2013). The measures used in the evaluation must be based on performance and can easily randomize make formal what every leader is expected to have.
Supporting the leaders in the course of their careers involves the recognition of the need for continued evaluation. Such evaluations emanate from the Missouri Department of Secondary and Elementary Education with the sole aim of checking on leaders on what they need to do. They allow one to improve their careers in line with set guidelines and standards.
Improving the conditions of work for the leaders is a crucial way in which schools can address the aforementioned conditions. Schools must ensure that their institutions are fit and provide better facilities for the school leaders to operate efficiently. Moreover, schools can make the basis for leaders to have certain incentives positions held in the institutions.
Effect on Student performance
The rational path has proven to have a significant influence on the academic press and achievement of the student and more so in the area of mathematics (Fullan, 2013). The path creates a disciplinary climate that makes the student appreciates and get more involved in the area of weakness making them learn more comfortable.
The emotional path has a direct influence on the confidence of teachers or rather their efficacy which in turn influences performance indirectly. Efficacy engenders persistence to students in times of failure and thus reinstates confidence in the learners to move forward and not give up.
The organizational path has proven that the total time spent on instructing students goes from weak to strong. The time dedicated to a student improves student learning because it ensures that the weak areas are detected and worked on by the leader.
A family is crucial and as such parent involvement shows a responsible parent that cares about the learning of the student. A student feels this concern and thrives to do better in their fields.
Conclusion
It is well to say that all the rational, emotional, organizational, and family paths have a significant role in the improvement of student performance. However, the main element of such improvement is the leadership surrounding the student in school.
References
Fullan, M. (2013). The Jossey-Bass reader on educational leadership M Grogan (Ed.) John Wiley & Sons
