Research
conducted on change in schools by Gene Hall and others in
the 1970's identified principal leadership as essential to
supporting successful efforts by schools to implement
change. Findings from this research were further reinforced
by findings from researchers such as Edmonds, Brookover,
Rutter and others who sought to identify the characteristics
of "instructionally effective schools" -- schools whose
students achieved beyond what might be expected given their
socio-economic backgrounds.
A key finding emerging from
this research was the conclusion that instructionally
effective schools had principals who gave more attention to
the leading the curriculum and instructional program of the
school. This picture of engaged instructional leaders
contrasted with the portrait of typical principals whose
workdays were characterized by a focus on "managerial"
activities. This led to an increased emphasis during the USA
during the 1980s on increasing the priority given to
instructional leadership among principals. During the
subsequent years, researchers, policymakers and
practitioners have made progress in defining the
instructional leadership role of principals and other school
leaders, identifying key strategies, approaches and
behaviors, and putting these into practice.
Philip
Hallinger has been among the scholars and practitioners who
has contributed to the development of this field since the
early 1980s. He developed the first research-based
instrument for assessing principal instructional leadership,
the
Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale
(PIMRS; see below) 1982. He has also conducted empirical
studies of instructional leadership and with co-author
Ronald Heck produced a series of influential review of
research on principal leadership and its effects on student
learning.