National Educational Leadership Institute Participants

Ministry of Education
REPUBLIC OF GHANA
National Educational
Leadership Institute
Participant Handbookte
Leadership Institu
Faculty Handbook
GOVERNMENT OF GHANA
GOVERNMENT OF GHANA
1
Module1: Leading a Learning-Focused School: Systems Leadership: Resource for Basic
in Ghana. Published by the Ghana Education Service and the National Teaching Counc
acknowledgements is available at the back page of the handbook
1
GOVERNMENT OF GHANA
Leadership Institute
Participant Handbook
Compiled by Ghana ASCD
Transform the leaders, transform the schools, transform the nation!

c School Leaders
cil, under the
| ii | National Educational Leadership Institute
Contents
Welcome.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Foreword.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Acknowledgements .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Partners.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
NELI Overview.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 4
Vision.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 4
Mission.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 4
Goals.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Transformational Leadership.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 5
Programme Competencies, Changes and Outcomes .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Professional Qualification .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 10
NELI Approach.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 11
Flipped Learning.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 11
Sibme.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Witsby.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Job-Embedded Performance Assessments.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 12
PIT Crew .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Evaluation Rubrics.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .13
Participant Cohorts.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Agreements.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
NELI Faculty Roles .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Support from Facilitators.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
List of Key Terms .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Memorandum of Agreement.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 21
Strategic Leadership Course.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 23
Objectives of This Course.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
The Competency Framework .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Map of the Learning Sequence.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 25
Assessment Task Templates.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Monthly Agenda.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 26
Session A (Day 1).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Participant Handbook | iii |

Session B (Day 2).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Cohort Contact List .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 28
Coaching.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Coach Contact Info.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Coaching Conversation Protocol.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Space for Coaching Notes .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 30
Mentor Site Visits.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Site Visit Protocol.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Space for Site Visit Notes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
Strategic Leadership Course Curriculum Design Team.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
References.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Appendix A: Performance Assessment Tasks & Rubrics for
Unit 1: Knowing Oneself As A Leader.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Task One: Analyse the Leadership Landscape .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 42
Self-Evaluation Rubric.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Task Two: Engage Your Team [P] .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Task Three: Develop a Personal Leadership Development Plan.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
Appendix B: Performance Assessment Tasks & Rubrics for
Unit 2: Shared Vision, Strategic Planning & Communication.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Task One: Analyse Unity of Vision.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Task Two: Identify Problem(s) of Practice [P].. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Task Three: Create a Strategic Action Plan [P].. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
Appendix C: Performance Assessment Tasks & Rubrics for
Unit 3: Strategising to Manage Change.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Task One: Implement the Plan for Success.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
Task Two: Prepare for Change [P].. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
Task Three: Sustain Improvement.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
| iv | National Educational Leadership Institute

Welcome
Foreword
Research indicates that effective leadership in schools, apart from direct instruction, is able to improve
learning outcomes. In Ghana, several researchers have attributed poor learning outcomes in our schools
to poor leadership arising from inadequate preparation of school leaders. In practice, school leaders
are selected based on the number of years they have spent on the job and not the possession of the
necessary competencies, skills and experiences in educational leadership. Many schools and educational
leaders have not undergone professional preparation for their role beyond their years of teaching in
the classroom, which has contributed to the poor learning outcomes experienced in Ghana’s schools.
Mindful of these challenges, the Ministry of Education is keen on strengthening school leadership to
drive the transformational agenda of the Ministry for a better learning outcome. The National Educational
Leadership Institute (NELI) concept was approved by Cabinet in December 2021 for piloting. The
curriculum was co-created by international and Ghanaian educational experts. It is the firm belief
that participants using this Handbook will learn day-today leadership practice by reflecting on their
own practices to improve student learning outcomes. Participants will earn the NELI Professional
Qualification in Strategic Leadership upon completion and assessment of their portfolio. I am very
excited about the National Educational Leadership Institute. We want to thank you, the participants,
for accepting to be part of this innovation. Good Luck on this leadership education journey and let’s
make a difference in the lives of the next generation. We can do it together!
Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum (MP)

Minister for Education
July 2023
Participant Handbook |1|

Acknowledgements
The NELI Secretariat, on behalf of the Ministry of Education, is most grateful to the President of the
Republic of Ghana, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, Cabinet, Minister for Education Hon. Dr. Yaw
Osei Adutwum, Deputy Ministers for Education for the foresight and commitment to the transformation
of education in Ghana through a leadership development programme for all the major stakeholders.
We extend a hand of appreciation to the Technical Advisory Group of NELI, Heads of Agencies of
the Ministry of Education, Chief Director and all Directors of the Ministry of Education, the Reform
Secretariat and all related offices through whose continuous strategic directions and guidance has
seen the effective development of the programme.
We are monumentally grateful to the Ghana ASCD Team, Dr. Charles Yeboah, Dr. Jill Harrison Berg,
Dr. Kingsley Arkorful, Ms. Ann Cunningham-Morris, Mr. Richard Sarpong, Dr. Laureen Adams, who
created the strategic plan, led the development of the curricular materials and prepared the programme
pilot; and for the support provided by Ms. Failatu Abdul-Mumin, Ms. Belinda Boakyewaa Amoah, Mr.
Emmanual Amposah Duodom, Ms. Basheera Agyeman, Mr. Enoch Oye, and Ms. Ernestina Addo. We
also wish to appreciate the contribution and support of the Institute for Educational Planning and
Administration(IEPA), University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, for leading the implementation of the
pilot project. We extend a big thank you to Mr. Enoch Cobbinah, Mr. Ussif Ayinga, Mr. Aaron Twum
Akwaboah, and Ms. Nana-Ama Kyerematen from the NELI Secretariat.
Also, we appreciate our faculty advisors from the five Universities and one College of Education with
a focus on Teacher Professional Training: Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA),
UCC; Faculty of Education, UEW; Faculty of Educational Studies, KNUST; School of Education and
Leadership, UG; Faculty of Education, UDS; and Tamale College of Education. They provided invaluable
professional support in strengthening the rigour and evaluation plan for the programme.
Again, special appreciations are due to all the professionals working in the educational systems (public
and private) in Ghana as classroom teachers, school heads, aspiring school heads, unions leaders,
development partners, workers of the various agencies and all other stakeholders in education who
participated in the various meetings/retreats/workshops to contribute to a quality program and
companion handbook.
Our final gratitude goes to our funding partners: Jacobs Foundation; Big-Win Philanthropy; and
Transforming Teaching, Education and Learning (T-TEL) for their support. We will only have been here
with their generous technical, strategic and financial support.
This programme will lead to the transformation of educational leaders, the transformation of education
and transformation of this nation.
Dr. Paul Kwadwo Addo

NELI Coordinator
| 2 | National Educational Leadership Institute

Partners

NELI Overview
Vision
Leadership for an education system that produces learners who thrive and achieve their potential, and
who are ultimately productive in an ever-evolving economic environment.
Mission
To improve student outcomes by developing effective leadership in the education sector, i.e. ensuring
education sector heads and management are equipped with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values
necessary for high-performing stewardship of the learning experience in all schools and educational
institutions, with the ultimate aim of leading to national development and transformation.
Goals
NELI aims to transform learning through transformational education leadership.
Specifically, NELI will seek:
• To Improve educational leadership performance and relevant adjustments in the management
of schools and institutions of learning.
• To develop and deliver education leadership skills that promote collaborative teaching and
learning.
• To deliver innovative practice-based educational leadership development to optimise student
learning.
• To develop education leaders with a change-responsive disposition.
• To promote learning-focused educational leadership.
• To develop education leaders with skills in stakeholder management, communication, and
resource mobilisation.
• To provide policy recommendations to the Ministry regarding innovation and improvements in
education management.

Transformational Leadership
Most schools in Ghana’s education system today are led through a top-down model of leadership in
which a headteacher or other administrator establishes a vision and manages a hierarchical chain of
command to implement it. This leadership model has perpetuated an education system that consistently
produces unacceptable results: Very few are prepared for tertiary education, an insufficient number are
prepared for 21st century work, and too many are left without prospects for leading sustainable lives.
This model cannot possibly produce the educated citizenry Ghana’s economy needs, and Ghanaians
deserve because leaders— making decisions alone— are doomed to reproduce the systems in which
they themselves have been developed. Instead, transformational leadership, in which leaders work
with teams and beyond their immediate self-interests to identify needed change and create a vision
to guide that change, is needed.
Transformational leaders foster new relationships with and among stakeholders as they engage those
closest to the work in helping to rethink the systems that are producing current results. This leads to
deeper levels of change: Instead of focusing on simply changing what we do, we change how we think
about what we do. This is transformation.
Transformational learning occurs through interaction and engagement with evidence of impact.
The NELI programme, therefore, is designed as an interactive learning experience that builds new
relationships across the NELI cohort, within schools, and the vertical chain of educational leaders (i.e.
school, district, region, national) and engages them in the exchange of their differentiated expertise
and experience in service of student learning outcomes.
Programme Competencies, Changes and Outcomes

To build leaders’ capacities in all of the key competencies required for effective transformational
leaders, NELI plans to offer four courses:
• Strategic Leadership
• Instructional Leadership
• Change Leadership
• Organisational Leadership
These domains were defined in alignment with local and international research-based frameworks
for educational leadership.

Certificate Key Demonstrable Expected Changes in Influence on Student
Competencies Organisational Practices Learning Outcomes
Successful participants Through these leaders’ influence, These shifts are associated by
are those who have we expect to see the following research* with the following
proven they can… shifts in their practice and student results
context(s)
Professional • Demonstrate critical • Increased collaboration Improved student engagement
Certificate understanding and • Engagement with data and academic performance
in Strategic awareness of oneself
• Organisational learning • School climates featuring
Leadership as an educational
• A culture of continuous an academic emphasis
leader among
Leading improvement are positively associated
leaders
collective • “Academic optimism”: trust, with students’ academic
• Analyse the unity performance (Henderson et
action toward of vision to identify collective efficacy, and
academic emphasis al., 2005; Kraft & Papay, 2014)
improvement a problem of
• Principal investment • Teachers’ trust in their
practice and engage
in knowing their staff ’s principal’s caring leadership is
stakeholders to
expertise, needs, and connected to organisational
create an action plan
personalities learning and, in turn, student
• Monitor achievement (Louis &
implementation of • Principal investment in Murphy, 2017; Blase & Blase
the plan and respond taking the time to familiarise 2006)
with adjustments to themselves with the school
community’s values, • Trust among teachers can
ensure success
priorities, needs, and norms drive improvement by
building collective efficacy
• Improved performance (Pierce, 2014) and making
accountability for and teachers more flexible and
ownership of learning adaptive in their approaches
outcomes at both district and to improving student
school level outcomes (Daly, 2009)
• Improved role clarity • In addition to maths and
for critical positions that reading improvements,
enable a focus on learning collective student trust is
improvement associated with greater
• Improved performance identification with school and
monitoring and planning internal control over learning
• Feedback from monitoring is tasks (Adams, 2014)
utilised to enhance roll out of • Schools where teachers
the implementation say parent involvement is
• Adaptations made to improve higher experience higher
the program because of levels of student academic
monitoring feedback achievement (Gordon &
Louis, 2009)

Professional • Give (and receive) • Educators receiving high- Improved student engagement
Certificate in feedback and quality feedback and academic performance
Instructional coaching that leads • Increased educator • Engagement with data
Leadership to change motivation specifically around
• Establish an • Increased opportunities monitoring student progress
Engaging in
evidence-informed for educators to grow from appears especially important
pedagogically- instructional to student achievement and
actionable feedback
focused program support for students (Elfers &
interactions • Personalised professional
• Engage educators Stritikus 2014; Shin, Slater, &
learning opportunities linked
in growth-oriented Backhoff, 2013)
to what is observed in schools
evaluation cycles or classrooms • Principal feedback to
teachers improves classroom
• Educators expressing greater
practice, which is positively
perceptions of legitimacy in
associated with subsequent
evaluation
improvements in students’
• More distributed pedagogical maths and reading test scores
leadership to meet learner (Garet et al., 2017)
needs
• Time spent on coaching
• Increased time and attention teachers is associated with
to pedagogical leadership higher student achievement
growth (Grissom, Loeb, &
Master, 2013)
• Classroom observations
and structured principal-
teacher dialogue resulted in
reading achievement gains
of 0.10 standard deviations
(Steinberg & Sartain, 2015;
Taylor & Tyler, 2012; Dee &
Wyckoff, 2015)
• Student achievement is higher
in schools in which principals
ensure that professional
learning opportunities for
teachers align with school
goals and are an integral part
of a coherent school-wide
instructional program (Shin,
Slater, & Backhoff, 2013;
Borko et al. 2003; Garza et al.
2014; Newmann et al., 2001)

Professional • Facilitate productive • Teachers working together on Improved student engagement
Certificate collaboration using instructional issues and academic performance
in Change protocols • Explicit protocols for • Teacher collaboration
Leadership • Establish or collaboration make can drive higher student
strengthen a PLC in collaborative work more achievement (Ronfeldt et al.,
Facilitating
which educators are systematic and increase 2015)
collaboration working toward a teams’ effectiveness • Teacher collaboration leads to
and professional common goal with • Increased opportunities for larger collective efficacy and
learning shared resources, data use and training positive relationships which
communities responsibilities, and are associated with improved
• A shared sense of
accountability student achievement
responsibility for student
• Stimulate a culture learning (Goddard et al., 2015;
of learning that can Supovitz, Sirinides, and May,
• Leaders provide time and
permeate the entire 2010)
support for PLCs
context/ school • Schools in which grade-
• Shift from monitoring
level teams were allotted
compliance to data driven
common planning time saw
school improvement and
higher achievement growth,
pedagogical leadership
particularly in reading (Miller
• Adequately trained & Rowan, 2006)
management/leadership staff
• Principals establish
in the right roles for improved
professional learning as a
performance management
priority and support teacher
and learning outcomes
communities and groups
in a school, and creating
and maintaining these
communities improves
student achievement (Park,
Lee, & Cooc, 2019)

Professional • Manage their • Enhance efficiency in school • Improved student
Certificate in own time and the operations engagement and academic
Organisational schedules of others • Principals schedule common performance
Leadership to maximise focus planning or protect teacher • Principals who spend more
on conditions for time for team meetings time interacting with parents,
Managing improvement
• Limit teacher responsibilities community members, and
personnel • Create a resource other stakeholders outside
to create time for teachers to
and resources management the school see higher reading
focus on teaching
strategically programme growth in their schools and
• Bolster social capital
that includes a other measures (Leana & Pil,
through strategic interaction
performance 2006; Horng, Klasik, & Loeb,
with parents, community
monitoring plan 2010)
members, and other
to address a data- • Principals’ management of
stakeholders
informed need tangible resources predicts
• Matching high-performing
• Develop a positive school outcomes
teachers to low-achieving
strategic personnel (Grissom & Loeb, 2011;
students
management plan Horng, Klasik, & Loeb, 2010)
that addresses • Teacher turnover rates are
• Research connects strategic
hiring, assignment lower
personnel management
or retention • A strong applicant pool (hiring, assignment or
and aligns to all • In hiring, leaders carefully placement, and retention)
relevant regulatory incorporate information to student achievement and
requirements about applicants that can other outcomes. Schools
signal effectiveness that more consistently hire
• Strategically counseling out high-performing teachers
educators who were poor fits have substantially higher
for the principal’s vision of achievement growth (Loeb,
the school’s goals and using Kalogrides, & Béteille, 2012)
administrative procedures to • When schools lose
remove ineffective teachers effective teachers, student
achievement is negatively
affected (Kraft, 2015)
Program • Cross-agency • Cross-agency collaboration • Students are prepared for
Overall engagement and shared ownership 21st century careers, and life
• Effective capacity- • Expanded network of high- • Students’ tertiary enrollment
building of capacity professional learning increases
programme faculty leaders • Ghana’s workforce needs are
• Understanding of • More efficient educational met
quality instructional leadership because of role-
guidance system reallocation/staff placement
development based on staff capability and
• Culture of learning priorities
continuous • Public benefit from
improvement knowledge and research
products
• Strong pipeline of educators
prepared to assume
leadership roles
*Research cited is from Grissom, Jason A., Anna J. Egalite, and Constance A. Lindsay. 2021. “How Principals Affect
Students and Schools: A Systematic Synthesis of Two Decades of Research.” New York: The Wallace Foundation.
Available at http://www.wallacefoundation.org/principalsynthesis.

Professional Qualification
Many professions require professional qualifications to ensure that members of the profession are
practising at the level of the standards set by that profession. The Ghana Ministry of Education is
working to create such a system.
NELI will offer cohort-based, practice-oriented hybrid courses that build the capacity of Ghana’s
education leaders in these four domains and provide Professional Qualification credentials to those
who successfully demonstrate mastery via job-embedded performance assessments.
• Professional Certificate in Strategic Leadership
• Professional Certificate in Instructional Leadership
• Professional Certificate in Change Leadership
• Professional Certificate in Organisational Leadership

NELI Approach
NELI incorporates best practices in adult learning and educational leadership. The program leverages
rigour, relevance, and relationships via self-directed flipped learning, authentic job-embedded
performance tasks, and a cohort model supported by cultural agreements and NELI faculty. NELI
is designed for the adult learner. The model provides opportunities for learners to be self-directed.
Participants can work at their own pace in between face-to-face sessions. The content is relevant to
participants’ work-related roles and contexts. The learning platform and face-to-face sessions provide
professional collaboration opportunities.
Flipped Learning
NELI uses a flipped learning approach. Whereas in most of today’s educational settings, the teacher
provides content in class and then students practise applying and engaging with it for homework, the
flipped learning approach turns that around. Participants explore content materials independently, in
differentiated ways as needed, and then use class time to practise applying and engaging with class
colleagues facilitated by the teacher. Then, participants will collaborate with site-based colleagues
from beyond the course to complete performance-based assessments.
NELI’s approach requires participants to be self-directed by engaging with course materials via the
online learning platform before the face-to-face cohort meetings. The in-person sessions will be used
for active learning whereby participants will participate in text-based protocols, reflection, performance
task drafting, peer review, and feedback.
This model provides flexibility for participants to engage with differentiated content relevant to them
and allows participants to learn at their own pace. Additionally, it promotes self-directed learning,
collaboration within the cohort, stronger relationships with participants and facilitators, and expanded
impact throughout participants’ own work contexts.
Sibme
Sibme.com (Seeing is Believing Me) is an online platform and mobile phone app supporting professional
learning in practice. NELI uses this platform to provide organised access to NELI course content &
performance tasks by unit, to make it easy for participants to attach artefacts and reflections gathered
in practice, and to facilitate the provision of feedback throughout.
For each unit, you will find a Unit Pathways Page with links to content in Witsby, guidance on completing
the performance tasks as evidence of application and competence, and downloadable Task Templates
& Rubrics. Sibme is also the place to submit all coursework, track your progress, and collaborate with
other course participants.
Participant Handbook | 11 |
The NELI team will support participants with navigating Sibme. The Sibme platform also has a collection
of “how to” videos to support your use and a very responsive support team to answer your questions.
Witsby
Witsby is a library of thousands of learning activities on popular, relevant and timely topics, including
videos, courses, and articles.
• This online library combines exclusive Ghana-based NELI content with videos, toolkits and
strategies created by ASCD.
• Educators get 24/7 access to searchable, self-directed, bite-sized professional learning content
that’s easy to use anytime, anywhere, on any device.
• Users can continue and expand on their professional learning journeys with the AI-automated
recommendation engine.
• Witsby has been recognised for excellence by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences.
Only the top 20% of nearly 14,000 projects submitted in this year’s competition obtained this
level of recognition.
Job-Embedded Performance Assessments

Job-embedded performance assessments refer to the tasks participants will complete to demonstrate
competency. They are not hypothetical exercises but are based on day-to-day leadership practice and
are designed to test the content-specific practices leaders need to improve student learning outcomes.
PIT Crew
They require the involvement of a team of site-based colleagues— your Planning and Implementation
Team, or “PIT Crew.” As part of your performance assessments, you will share ideas, solicit feedback,
lead them in gathering and analysing data, develop a strategic plan together, and carry it out while
monitoring ongoing progress. If you are a department head, they might be members of your department
team. If you are a principal/ head teacher, they might be members of your leadership team. If you are
a district or regional or agency leader, they might be members of your office team or division.
NELI learning design enables leaders to assess and find solutions for authentic and immediate problems
or challenges. Additionally, it promotes reflection and continuous improvement via inquiry-based
work, collaboration, coaching support, and mentor site visits.
Each NELI course has three units, each of these has three performance assessment tasks.
• Participants will review and begin drafting each unit’s performance assessments during the in-
person session focused on that competency unit.
• Participants should submit their performance before the subsequent session and can re-submit
until two weeks after the final session.
• Participants must turn in a completed (self-assessment) rubric with their performance assessment.
• Facilitators will score the performances using the rubrics provided.

Evaluation Rubrics
The nine performance-based assessment tasks of this course are designed to allow you to demonstrate
that you can practise at the level of the standard expected for professional qualification. Each task has
a rubric with three or four indicators describing each competency level’s mastery standard.
A sample that illustrates the competency levels is below.
Skills Exceeds Competency Approaching Does Not Meet Unscorable*
Competency Standard Competency Competency
0
4 3 2 1
Skill X.X: This column Start by reading This column This column *“Unscorable,”
describes a this column. describes ways describes with a score of
The skill you
performance the performance what makes a 0, means the
are expected to
that goes above might fall short performance participant has:
demonstrate is
and beyond the This column of the standard. unacceptable.
listed here -> Skipped that
competency defines what it Compare it to
Participant portion of the
standard. means to MEET the column to
receiving a task
Compare it to the standard. the left.
1 is advised
the column to OR
Participant to revise and
the right. -> Misinterpreted
receiving a resubmit. Use
It generally 2 may want the descriptor as the question(s)
requires deeper to revise and feedback about in that portion of
reflection and/ resubmit. Use what to improve. the task
or research the descriptor as Participant
connections. feedback about receiving a 0
what to improve. must revise and
resubmit.
When you have completed each of your tasks in Sibme, you will be prompted to use the rubric to
score yourself. Then, one of your course facilitators will score your tasks. In addition, our NELI Faculty
Advisors will secondarily score a random selection of tasks.
You will receive a score for each task equal to the average of all indicators for that task. Judgements
about whether you have met the professional standard expected of course participants will be made
using the table below.
If your average is You have

4 to 3.5 Exceeded expectations
3.4 to 2.5 Met the expectations
2.4 to 1.5 Approach expectations: Please review the rubric, revise and resubmit
<1.5 Not met the expectations: Please review the unit pathways content and the rubric;
then revise and resubmit
Resubmissions of a task are accepted up until the final deadline, approximately two weeks after the
final F2F session. Check with your course facilitator to confirm the date of this deadline.
Participant Cohorts
We believe that learning in collaboration is powerful and promotes transformation. Cohort models
support networking among students in professional education programs and promote stronger
performance-based outcomes. Individuals are highly motivated to learn when cohort learning is
approached holistically. When cohorts are supported to develop relational trust, cohort members feel
included and respected within the learning group, they tend to have a positive attitude toward the subject
matter, they demonstrate the ability to make learning meaningful to themselves and others, and they
can demonstrate competence in a variety of ways (Mello, 2003; Senge, 1994; and Wlodkowski, 1999).
Additionally, NELI’s weekend retreat structure for cohort learning is meant to support participants in
balancing career, family, and personal responsibilities.

Agreements
Trust is needed for educators to assume a learning stance and make themselves vulnerable enough
to learn--and unlearn- – leadership knowledge, skills and dispositions. In order to create a space with
the psychological safety participants need to take risks required to learn, we offer NELI Agreements.
The NELI course facilitators and curriculum writers collaboratively created the NELI Agreements. We
believe these agreements will enable us to work well together both in person and in online spaces.
We invite all NELI participants to consider what these agreements mean for you and what you need
from your cohort colleagues and your course facilitators to enact the agreements fully.
Be engaged and collaborative

• Take the risks needed to learn. Embrace ambiguity.
• Commit to colleagues’ learning.
Be an active listener
• Pay attention to equity of voice: Practice WAIT* time.
• Expect to hear new ideas.
• Ask questions for clarification.
Be respectful
• What’s said here, stays here. What’s learned here,
leaves here.
• Use electronics respectfully: Step out, if necessary.
• Honor Time. Start and end ON TIME.
• One meeting.
This is a safe space
“The “WAIT” acronym reminds us to ask ourselves

“Why Am I Talking?”
NELI Faculty Roles
It takes a team to make NELI work. The NELI faculty is comprised of faculty advisors, facilitators,
coaches, and mentor site hosts. The following table describes the different levels of support via faculty
roles provided to NELI participants.
Faculty Advisor Facilitators Coaches Mentor Site Hosts

Scale / Scope 8-10 faculty Approx 1:12 ratio Approx 1:12 ratio Approx 4-6 sites per
members from with participants with participants region (Sites may
universities (Facilitators work host more than one
& colleges of in pairs) site visit each)
education
Requirements • Expertise in • Experienced • Experienced • Recommended
educational as leaders of educators by the MOE and
leadership professional working in strong academic
training and development or schools OR outcome data
development other capacity- who have • Demonstrates
• Involved in building been outside strengths in one
research on experiences of schools no or more of the
educational • Demonstrated more than course module
leadership, experience in 3 years, e.g. competencies
management leading school retirees, school
- Knowing
and improvement heads, directors,
Oneself as a
administration. etc.
• Recruited by Leader
• Have held invitation, not • Recognized
- Shared Vision,
a senior open enrollment for strong
Strategic
management leadership
• Must be from Planning &
position in practice
one of our pilot Communication
a teacher regions • Must be located
- Strategizing
education or in one of the
In the future: to Manage
ed leadership pilot regions
Facilitators will Change
department • Must have the
be drawn from • Practical
• Have been those who have technological
application
involved in participated in and cultural
that shows
leadership at least one NELI inclinations
whole-school
development course needed to
implementation
program and coach virtually
of the
accreditation
competencies
and permeates
the culture of the
school

Faculty Advisor Facilitators Coaches Mentor Site Hosts
Primary • Support • Participate in • Participate in • School hosts will
Responsibilities development facilitator cohort the program be asked to create
of the course meetings launch a classroom
materials • Facilitate F2F • Coach 8-12 visitation
• Plan and meetings: five course schedule (with
facilitate the weekends over participants, a school map,
coaches’ training five months meeting where necessary).
• Support the • Provide online virtually with • This 3-hr visit
development support to each 3-4 times will include an
of a rigourous participants for 60 mins introduction
research and throughout the • Coaching by the school
evaluation plan course sessions leader, classroom
will focus observations,
• Provide quality • Provide
on the Unit and a moderated
control on the feedback on
performance Q&A with a panel
evaluation of performance
assessments of teachers and
performance tasks: 3-5 times
& supporting other education
assessments per course, per
participants’ leaders.
participant
Personal • The agenda and
Leadership facilitator will be
Plans provided
• [Optional]
Facilitate a
school site visit,
if desired
Preparation & • Observe a two- • Attend pre- • Attend pre- • The site hosts will
Support day facilitator launch F2F launch F2F be provided with
training Facilitator coach training information about
• Attend 1-2 training • Join a monthly what to expect,
virtual meetings • Participate virtual coach and a checklist for
in monthly meeting preparation
• Consult Faculty
Handbook virtual training • Consult Faculty
& reflection Handbook
sessions
• Consult Faculty
Handbook
Support from Facilitators
Course Facilitators are not expected to be masters of the content. You will engage with the course
content through the online platform and your coach, who is an experienced educator.
You can count on Facilitators to be familiar with the content, and to be prepared to support your
interactive engagement with that content in cohort meetings and via your performance assessments.
They are responsible for ensuring the Learning, Logistics and Longevity of your cohort’s learning
community.

List of Key Terms
Domains and Course Effective educational leadership requires competency in four domains:
Modules • Strategic Leadership
• Instructional Leadership
• Change Leadership
• Organisational Leadership
Each course module focuses on one leadership domain while drawing connections
to the others.
Hybrid Learning Each involves a 120-hour hybrid learning experience over five months. The
Experience “hybrid” structure includes:
• Online content components that are accessible via an e-learning platform
• In-person engagement components that are held for two days (one weekend)
every two to four weeks over five months
• Practice-based components that are pursued independently, documented in a
performance-based assessment portfolio, and supported by a coach
Competencies and Skills Each leadership domain (and thus course module) is broken down into three main
competencies.
Each competency is broken down into required skills (specific learned/ teachable
abilities required to perform the competency successfully).
• The skills are used as the indicators of the performance assessment rubrics.
• The skills list is used to solicit pre- and post-module self-assessment perception
data.
Units Each competency is the focus of one unit within the course module.
Each competency-based unit:
• Has its own section in the e-learning platform for accessing readings, videos,
resources, reflection questions, performance assessment tools, etc.
• Has its own Pathways Page that details:
- The skills that are the focus of each unit
- Pre-work to be done before each unit-based session to strengthen the
relevant skills
- The performance assessment tasks and rubric required to demonstrate
competency of the skills for each unit
• Has its own set of three performance assessment tasks with rubrics
Performance The performance assessments are designed to provide participants with an
Assessments opportunity to demonstrate their capability with the competency-aligned skills.
• Portfolios • There are three performance assessment Portfolios: one for each unit.
• Tasks • Each unit-based portfolio includes three Tasks.
• Rubrics • Each unit-based portfolio has its own Rubric, which describes the standards of
performance at different levels of mastery.
F2F Sessions In face-to-face (F2F) sessions, time will prioritise engagement and collaboration.
The agenda will include:
• Text-based protocols to guide discussion and integration into practice of the
content that has been explored independently
• Drafting the tasks and providing peer feedback on the tasks
• Collaborative conversations and problem-solving:
- How will I implement/ apply this?
- How will this look different across our various sites?
• Planning next steps with an accountability partner
• Reflection on the site visits
People We are all learners, or students, in the NELI program, as the program is built on
• Students the principle of being a learning organisation. Therefore, we avoid using the term
learners to refer to one particular group.
• Participants
• PIT Crew We use students to refer to the K-12 learners, whose success is our end goal.
• Program Faculty We use participants to refer to the educators who are enrolled as adult learners in
NELI courses, and who are working to earn professional qualification certificates.
We use PIT Crew to refer to the Planning & Implementation Team (PIT), the group
of educators working alongside participants in their work sites, and who are
collaborators to extend the impact of participants’ learning.
We use Program Faculty to refer to the lead learners, who are gleaning lessons
from what participants do in order to ensure an ever-improving program. This
includes all of the following roles:
• Facilitators
• Coaches
• Mentor Sites
• Faculty Advisors
These are described in the NELI Roles Section above.

Memorandum of Agreement
The Strategic Leadership course of the National Educational Leadership Institute has been approved by
the Ghanaian Cabinet as a pilot. The goal of this initial implementation is to document and evaluate its
process, outputs and impacts on school culture, teaching & leadership practice and student learning.
This will inform decisions about the replication of this course for leaders throughout the country and
the development of three additional courses.
As a result of the data requirements of this pilot, we require all participants to commit to the following
expectations upon registration of the program:
I AGREE TO THE TIME EXPECTATIONS

• Dates: I understand that NELI requires participation in five Face-to-Face (F2F) sessions
• Amount of time: I understand that (in addition to F2F meeting time) this course will require
approximately 15 hours of work and study time per month, the commitment of a rigourous
graduate course.
• Pacing: I agree to keep up with the work deadlines.
I AGREE TO THE WORK EXPECTATIONS

• Readings: I agree to complete all required readings and be prepared to discuss them in writing
or F2F sessions.
• Engagement: I agree to engage fully in the interactive activities during F2F sessions, including
discussion, role plays, and peer review protocols.
• Site-Based Meetings: I agree to convene and meet monthly with a PIT Crew (Planning &
Implementation Team), a group of colleagues in your school, department or agency.
• School Site Visits: I agree to make at least one school site visit and document my experience
using provided guidelines.
• Performance Tasks: I agree to complete the nine Performance Assessment Tasks and upload
them with my self-assessment to our online platform (Sibme).
I AGREE TO THE LEARNING EXPECTATIONS

• Community Agreements: I agree to follow the NELI Community Agreements, designed to create
a learning environment in which all feel safe and ready to learn.
• Feedback: I agree to give and receive feedback from colleagues to aid our learning.
• Coaching: I agree to share my Personal Leadership Plan and my assessment task drafts with my
coach and be open to feedback, encouragement and advice.
• Technology: I understand that the course requires technology use that will strengthen my skills
as a 21st century leader, and I agree to approach new technology tools with a growth mindset.
I AGREE TO THE RESOURCE EXPECTATIONS
• Device: I agree to secure the use of a laptop or tablet throughout the course.
• Internet/ data: I agree that I will secure access to internet/ data.
I AGREE TO THE COMMUNICATION EXPECTATIONS

• Questions: I agree to ask questions when I am confused or unsure, and not wait.
• Communication: I agree to respond promptly to messages from my Facilitator or Coach.
• Program Feedback: I agree to complete session Exit Slips and provide honest and candid
feedback to help the program improve.
• Program Evaluation: I agree to participate in interviews, focus group discussions and work site
observations when asked.
As a participant in this initial implementation, you will benefit from wraparound supports to ensure
your success, opportunities to contribute to the improvement of this important program, and a waiver
of the program fees that future participants of this course will incur.

Strategic Leadership Course
Objectives of This Course

By the end of this course, you will have strengthened your skills for:
• Demonstrating critical understanding and awareness of oneself as an educational leader among
leaders
• Analysing the unity of vision to identify a problem of practice and engaging stakeholders to
create an action plan
• Monitoring implementation of the plan and responding with adjustments to ensure success
The Competency Framework

Strategic Leadership Course Design
Each course is built to strengthen leaders’ knowledge and skill in three interrelated course competencies
and has a required performance assessment component for each competency area. Course participants
and course facilitators alike will have access to instructional materials and capacity-building tasks
upon which they can draw to strengthen the skills required to complete the performance assessments
well. The competencies, performance assessments and skills framework for the Strategic Leadership
course is outlined below.
Competencies: Performance Skills Required: Specific Skills You Will Strengthen
Focus of Capacity- Assessment: What You
Building Will Do to Demonstrate
Capability
Unit 1: Demonstrate critical Skill 1.1: Analysing leadership practice
understanding and
Knowing Oneself as Skill 1.2: Identifying distributed leadership in action:
awareness of oneself as an
a Leader recognising the leadership influence of all
educational leader
Skill 1.3: Determining staff strengths and areas of
• Task One: Analyse the
challenge aligned with institutional needs & personal
Leadership Landscape
leadership style
• Task Two: Engage Your
Team [P] Skill 1.4: Developing an effective team
• Task Three: Develop a Skill 1.5: Engaging in self-assessment and self-reflection
Personal Leadership
Development Plan Skill 1.6: Analysing obstacles and opportunities in the
context of their present role/ environment
Skill 1.7: Developing and using a personal leadership
development plan
Unit 2: Analyse the unity of vision Skill 2.1: Identifying shared moral purpose & core values
to identify a problem
Shared Vision, Skill 2.2: Ensuring alignment to a shared mission & vision
of practice and engage
Strategic Planning &
stakeholders to create an Skill 2.3: Collecting and analysing multiple forms of data,
Communication
action plan including stakeholder input
• Task One: Analyse Unity Skill 2.4: Identifying a problem of practice
of Vision
Skill 2.5: Developing a strategic plan, including goals,
• Task Two: Identify objectives, action steps, evidence of goal achievement
Problem(s) of Practice [P]
(targets), timelines & strategic team responsibilities
• Task Three: Create a
Strategic Action Plan [P] Skill 2.6: Communicating effectively, including listening to
understand and developing communication plans
Unit 3: Monitor implementation Skill 3.1: Assuring strategic plans are living documents
of the plan and respond that guide all organisational work.
Strategising to
with adjustments to ensure
Manage Change Skill 3.2: Building the capacity of stakeholders to share
success
the work of monitoring progress.
• Task One: Implement the
Skill 3.3: Identifying staff change preferences
Plan for Success
• Task Two: Prepare for Skill 3.4: Determining stakeholder concerns related to
Change [P] organisational change initiatives
• Task Three: Sustain Skill 3.5: Explaining and connecting initiatives to create
Improvement coherence
The tasks designated with a [P] require the engagement of the PIT Crew.

Map of the Learning Sequence
To meet these objectives, you’ll engage in five types of learning as outlined below. While you should
look to your Course Facilitator for your specific schedule, the learning sequence is described below to
help you understand how the components of the learning sequence complement one another. Each
“Work Period” begins with a F2F session and is scheduled to be 2-4 weeks long.
Work Period 1 Work Period 2 Work Period 3 Work Period 4 Work Period 5
F2F Sessions 2 full days 2 full days 2 full days 2 full days 2 full days
Guided by • Course • Review Unit 1 • Review Unit 2 • Review • Review Unit 3
Facilitators Orientation content content additional Unit content
• Unit 1 Intro • Peer Review • Peer Review 2 content • Peer Review
• Preview Unit Unit 1, Tasks 1 Unit 2, Task 1 • Peer Review, Unit 3, all
1, Tasks 1 & 2 &2 &2 Unit 2 Task 3 Tasks
• Plan Unit 1, • Plan Unit 2, • Unit 3 Intro • Share results
Task 3 Task 3 • Plan Unit 3 • Draft Final
• Unit 2 Intro Tasks Reflections
• Plan Unit 2,
Tasks 1 & 2
Independent • Explore Unit • Complete • Explore more • Explore Unit • Finalise Unit 3
Work 1 Content drafts of all Unit 2 Content 3 Content Tasks & Task
Supported online Unit 1 Tasks online online revisions from
by E-learning • Draft Task • Explore Unit • Complete • Draft Unit 3, any unit
Platform One: Analyse 2 Content drafts of all Task One: • Due date is 2
the Leadership online Unit 2 tasks Implement weeks after
Landscape • Draft Unit 2, the Plan for the final F2F
Task One: Success session
Analyse Unity
of Vision
Team Work • Recruit your • Collaborative • Collaborative • Collaborative • Reflection
Together with PIT Crew work and work and work and meeting with
your Team • Draft Unit 1, Meetings with Meetings with Meetings with PIT Crew
Task Two: PIT Crew PIT Crew PIT Crew
Engage Your • Draft Unit 2, • Draft Unit 2, • Draft Unit 3:
Team Task Two: Task Three: Task Two:
Identify Create a Prepare for
Problem(s) of Strategic Change
Practice Action Plan
Reflection on • Independent • Review Unit • Mid-course • Review Unit • Independent
Practice Reflection 1 tasks with check-in 2 Tasks with Reflection on
Supported by on the Unit Coach before • Check in on Coach before the course
Coach 1, Task 1 submitting PLP Progress submitting experience
activities • Check in on • Check in on • Review Unit
PLP Progress PLP Progress 3 Tasks with
Coach before
submitting
Modelling in At least once during the term
Action
• Attend at least one Mentor Site Visit
Demonstrated • Present key ideas to cohort
by Mentor Site
Hosts
Assessment Task Templates
The assessment tasks must be completed and submitted online.
However, they are also reproduced in the Appendix with their rubrics so you can mark them up. Start
by annotating the rubrics, add notes about how you plan to complete the tasks, and possibly even
draft your responses in writing.
Monthly Agenda
We will have five 2-day face-to-face sessions roughly 4-5 weeks apart. Facilitators will support active
engagement among you and your peer participants based on provided agendas that they will adjust
based on your cohort’s needs. The agendas for our five two-day sessions will follow the following
basic pattern.
Session A (Day 1)
Time Key Topics Mins
9:00 Welcome 45
• Relevance: Objectives and Setting Learning intentions
• Rigour: Exit Slips & Agenda Preview
• Relationships: Connecting & Agreements
9:45 Content Conversations 45
• [First F2F only: Orientation to the course content, structures and tools]
• Discussion of Unit pathways content using a discussion protocol
10:30 Break 20
10:50 Connections to Practice 70
• Sharing observations from PIT Crew meetings
• Reflecting on coaching sessions
• Sharing lessons from Mentor Site Visits
12:00 LUNCH 60
1:00 Re-Connecting 15
• Strengthen trust and readiness for the work ahead
1:15 Unit Review & Work Time 90
• Q&A
• Peer Review
• Submit if ready!
2:45 Break 15
3:00 Skill Building 60
• Practice and prepare for PIT Crew engagement
• Reflect on unit content in practice

4:00 Reflection & Closing 30
• Relevance: Revisit Session Purpose & Individual Intentions
• Relationships: Closing Circle
• Rigour: Exit Slip
4:30 Adjourn
Session B (Day 2)
Time Key Topics Mins
9:00 Welcome 30
• Relevance: Objectives and Learning intention Setting
• Rigour: Exit Slips & Agenda Preview
• Relationships: Connecting & Agreements
9:30 Content Conversations 45
• Discussion of unit content using a conversation protocol
10:30 Break 20
10:50 Preview New Unit 70
• Unit Pathway
• Task templates & rubrics
• Plan your approach
[Final F2F only: share our action planning results and reflect on the course content, process
and relevance]
12:00 LUNCH 60
1:00 Re-Connecting 15
• Strengthen trust and readiness for the work ahead
1:15 Unit Work Time & Review 60
• Begin work on first task(s)
• Prepare questions for your coach
[Final F2F only: share our action planning results and reflect on the course content, process
and relevance]
2:15 Next Steps 15
• Review expectations for work to be completed for next F2F session
2:30 Reflection & Closing 30
• Relevance: Revisit Session Purpose & Individual Intentions
• Relationships: Closing Circle
• Rigour: Exit Slip
3:00 Adjourn
Cohort Contact List
Use the following table to record the contact information for cohort colleagues who you may reach
out to for support throughout the course and keep in touch with beyond the course.
Name Telephone Email Address Notes

Number
Co-Facilitators
Cohort Colleagues

Coaching
Coach Contact Info
Coach’s Name Telephone Email Address Best Times Notes
Number to Connect
Coaching Conversation Protocol

Coaching calls will happen once a month. Coaches and participants will engage in a 60-minute
conversation using the following protocol. This may be adjusted to suit participants’ needs.
Agenda Item Purpose Possible Questions/ Notes

Prompts
Check-in To connect and get How are you?
updates.
What’s working at your site?
Personal To centre the discussion How is your plan progressing?
Leadership and to problem solve How do you know?
Plan (PLP) around the personal
What is your most pressing
Focus Area leadership goal identified
issue or concern?
in Unit One.
Performance To review and provide What type of feedback do you
Assessment feedback on the want?
performance assessment
What should I/we focus on?
using the rubric criteria.
How did you assess using the
rubric?
Questions/ To surface issues, What do you need to know
Concerns challenges, and/or gain more about?
clarity.
What can I clarify for you?
Next Steps To determine goals and What will you do between
action items for the now and your next F2f?
participant and coach.
Between our next call?
What will I do to support you?
Date and
Time of Next
Meeting
Space for Coaching Notes

Mentor Site Visits
Site Visit Protocol

Purposes of the Mentor Site Visit
The National Educational Leadership Institute project aims to support the development of
transformational leaders to improve student learning outcomes. Participants receive support from
facilitators, coaches, and mentor sites. The Mentor Site Visit allows leaders to observe effective
leadership in practice and its impact on student learning.
This visit allows Mentor Sites to showcase their work and share their successes by hosting leaders from
interested schools and organisations. Mentor sites are careful to describe themselves as not being an
exemplar in all areas of school improvement but have developed promising and successful practices
with demonstrated positive results in specific areas.
During the Mentor Site Visit, leaders will have the opportunity to visit classrooms, talk with staff, observe
team meetings, and learn in-depth about the practices and programs helping students achieve. The
school will spend a lot of time preparing for your visit. For a visit to be a successful experience, you
must also prepare.
The following will provide you with some resources that can enhance the quality of your experience:
the preparation, the Mentor Site Visit, and the follow-up.
Preparing for the Visit: Key Questions for the Visiting Leader
• What do we hope to learn?
• After we review information about the school, what questions do we have?
• What will we do after the mentor site visit to process what we have learned?
• How will we share this information with our school or agency?
Possible Strategies the Host School Might Include in the Site Visit
Meetings
• Meet with principal
• Meet with school leadership and/or the school improvement team
• Meet with students
• Meet with parents
Observations
• Observe in classrooms
• Observe grade level or content area team meetings
• Observe a staff meeting
• Observe/participate in professional development activities
• Observe teachers talking about student data and student work
• Observe teachers discussing how they monitor student progress
• Participate in walkthroughs with the principal to understand the strategies they use to help
improve instructional practice
Discussions
• Debrief meetings with teachers from observed classrooms
• Meet with specific action teams focusing on school improvement and discuss how the team
works on challenges
• Discuss strategies that the school has implemented with key staff with a focus on the ones the
school is currently using to make significant progress
• Discuss with staff how they have changed the culture of the school and addressed significant
barriers
Mentor Site: Sample Site Visit Agenda

Agenda Structure
Today, our work together will be focused on deepening our understanding of effective leadership
practices as evidenced by student learning outcomes. We will conclude our visit with time to reflect
on our learning and consider what we will take to our schools/organisations.
Visit Outcomes
• Increase understanding of effective leadership practices
• Use knowledge of effective leadership to observe teaching and learning
• Plan for our own leadership moves

FOCUS AREA 1
8:30-8:45 Welcome
8:45–9:00 Framing the Day: Review outcomes and Agenda
9:00-10:00 Observations: Review student learning in action
10:00-10:30 Debrief with teachers
10:30-10:45 BREAK
FOCUS AREA 2
10:45-11:15 Leadership Team Presentation
11:15-11:45 Leadership Team Debrief and Discussion
REFLECTING ON VISIT
11:45-12:15 Reflect
12:15-12:30 Feedback
Feedback about the Visit

Both the Visiting Leader and the Host School, will have insights to share about the Mentor Site Visit that
can assist the Host School in improving how it showcases its programs and practices. Visiting Leaders
should respectfully share perspectives with their hosts through an informal debriefing at the end of
the Mentor Site Visit and through their written, specific comments about what they learned. The NELI
team also uses the feedback to measure the impact of the Mentor Site Visits.
Follow-Up Action Plan To Site Visit

I. Key Ideas to Take Back to My School
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
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II. Immediate Next Steps
Steps that need to be taken:
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Due By:
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Person(s) Responsible:
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Resources/Support Needed:
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Space for Site Visit Notes

Strategic Leadership Course
Curriculum Design Team
Anima Gloria Jnr Anima Gloria Jnr. is a basic school Headteacher at Aboabo No. 4 Presby
Primary School, Dormaa, with fifteen years of work experience. She
holds M.Ed and M.A. degrees in Educational Administration and Human
Resource Development. In 2020, she was adjudged the 1st Runner-Up
of the Ghana Teacher Prize. She was also adjudged the winner of the
Education/School Leadership Award (EDUCOM Awards 2020). Gloria
is a very creative and development-oriented leader passionate about
changing the face of education in rural communities, with her school
being the focal point.
Ann Cunningham-Morris Ann Cunningham-Morris, Ed.S, is an international consultant focusing
on leadership, curriculum & instruction, school improvement & building
teacher capacity. Prior to her 2016 retirement, she served for fifteen
years as the Director of Professional Learning at ASCD. During her
tenure, she worked with Ministries of Education in the United Arab
Emirates, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia & South Africa. She has also
provided consulting in various other countries and throughout the
USA. She is co-author of the ASCD book, The Principal Influence, and
has authored over twenty articles in education magazines & journals.
She holds a postgraduate Education Specialist degree and a Master’s
degree in Education Leadership. She is a senior advisor to Ghana ASCD.
Bernard Kuug Bernard B. Kuug is the Director of Research at the National Teaching
Council (NTC). He holds MSc in Development Policy & Planning and
MPhil in Social Studies Education from the Kwame Nkrumah University
of Science and Technology and the University of Education, Winneba,
respectively. He began his teaching career in 1997, and until he joined
NTC in 2018, he taught social studies at Berekum College of Education.
He has facilitated as a National trainer of trainers on the standard-based
curriculum and the Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Betty Djokoto Mrs. Betty Djokoto started her career as a classroom teacher in 1981,
with 21 years of experience in Secondary school leadership. She retired
as a headmistress in one of Ghana’s highly successful senior high schools,
the Wesley Girls’ Senior High School in Cape Coast. Ms Djokoto is
currently one of T-tel’s Secondary Education Ambassadors in Ghana.
Bright Honu Dr. Bright Honu holds a Ph.D. in business administration from
Benin’s Protestant University. At the University of Nigeria, he teaches
international entrepreneurship as an associate professor. As the
proprietor of the New Life Educational Centre, he has contributed to
the delivery of quality education in Ghana for over 22 years. In 2020,
he was appointed Vice-Chairman of the GNAP chapter for the central
region.
Charles Yeboah Dr. Charles Yeboah is Co-Founder and Managing Director of International
Community Schools Ghana (Accra and Kumasi). He is also the Founding
Executive Director of Ghana ASCD, and also has also been serving on the
ASCD USA board since July 2020. Dr Yeboah is a passionate advocate
of public-private partnership in education and for best practices in
schools. Dr Yeboah and Ghana ASCD and its advisors have been the
key architects of the NELI project in partnership with stakeholders from
the Ministry of Education and others.
Colette Hukpati Colette Ama Hukpati has enormous experience in the field of
accreditation/quality assurance in higher education and credential
evaluation for the past 19 years. She holds M.Phil, B.Ed degrees in
Education from UCC, M.Sc (EMEA) from Universiteit Twente and
Professional Certificate in Quality Assurance (GCQA) from The
University of Melbourne, Australia. She’s been involved in national
and international projects including the development of the National
Curriculum Framework for Initial Teacher Training by Transforming
Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL) in Ghana. She heads the
Accreditation Department, GTEC.
Eric Asomani Eric Asomani is an ICT teacher at Naylor SDA School in Tema and the
author of Best Time Computing Textbook with 10 publications. He has
been a teacher since 2008. He holds Masters in Education in Curriculum
and Instructions. Mr. Eric Asomani Asante was adjudged the National
Most Outstanding Teacher in the year 2020 and National Best STEM
Teacher in 2022.
Fred Boateng Fred Boateng is a Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of
Educational Studies and Leadership at the University of Ghana.
He researches, among other areas, educational leadership and
management. He was part of the leadership drive team that advised
the Vice-Chancellor to foster leadership development programmes in
the university. Fred is also a member of the committee tasked to design
and develop the University of Ghana’s Strategic Plan (2024-2029).

George Kwesi Asafo George Kwesi Asafo teaches social studies at Comboni Technical
Institute-Sogakope. He believes teaching pupils relevant knowledge,
skills, and values will make them responsible citizens. He also manages
Ghana Education Service promotion training. He has a Master of
Education in Educational Administration and Management from UEW,
Winneba.
George K.T. Oduro George K.T. Oduro is a retired Professor of Educational Leadership at
the Institute for Educational Planning and Administration, University
of Cape Coast. He has practical experience in student leadership
and academic leadership. Dr. Oduro has facilitated leadership and
governance capacity-strengthening programmes for the British Council
(2009-2016);, T-TEL (2018-2021). He is the brain behind the Leadership
for Learning programme in Ghana.
Ivy Asantewaa Owusu Mrs. Ivy Asantewa Owusu has over three decades years of experience as
a professional educator. In 2020, she became Bono Regional Education
Director. She has improved administrative systems to support holistic
student development, teacher retention, and resource management.
Her commitment to teacher professional development has improved
student performance.
Jill Harrison Berg Dr. Jill Harrison Berg is a leadership coach, school improvement
consultant, researcher and writer specialising in leadership for
instructional equity. Dr. Berg is the author of three books and
numerous articles that synthesise lessons from her deep work in school
improvement, and she is a Senior Advisor for Ghana ASCD.
Jonathan Fletcher Professor Jonathan Fletcher is the Founding Dean of the School of
Education and Leadership at the University of Ghana. He holds PhD,
MSc, MA and BSc (Hons) degrees in Mathematics and Education from
universities in the UK. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Chartered
Institute of Leadership and Governance (CILG) and Chair of the National
Executive Committee of CILG (Ghana). He is the key advisor for teaching
and learning partnerships at T-TEL. He is also the Education Director
on the Board of Directors at the Ghana International School.
Josephine Asante Mrs. Josephine Asante is on the Board of directors in 4 secondary
schools and 1 primary school in the UK, she is also the Chair of Risk
and Audit Committee (ELAT education), and the director of Leadership,
Mentoring and Coaching (MDEC) consultancy in her transition to Ghana.
Her highest education is MBA in Leadership, Mentoring & Coaching. Her
passion is enabling young people to visualise their future and helping
them to be skilled architects in building that future, as the classrooms
of today build the societies and communities tomorrow.
Laureen Adams Dr. Laureen Adams is an author and education consultant specialising
in teacher education, equity, learner-centred communities, and love-
centred liberatory education. Dr. Adams holds a PhD in Education
with an emphasis in Teaching, Learning, and Culture from Claremont
Graduate University, USA. She is also a research fellow and affiliate
faculty in the School of Educational Studies. She is an advisor for Ghana
ASCD.
Linda Tom-Dery Linda Tom-Dery (Mrs.) is the headmistress of Gambaga Girls Senior High
School. She holds Masters In Education in Guidance and Counselling
and Social Studies. He has been a teacher since 1998 and a facilitator
for the Professional Learning Community.
Dandy George Dampson Dandy George Dampson is a Professor of Educational Administration and
Management at the Department of Educational Foundation, University
of Education, Winnneba. He is the Dean of the Faculty of Educational
Studies, University of Education, Winneba. He has published extensively
in School leadership, School improvement, teacher empowerment
and teacher education. He is passionately involved in a Tri-continental
Teacher Education (TTT) and Diversity Context in Teacher Education
(DiCoT) Project for teachers in Ghana (UEW), Germany (Hamburg
University) and USA (UNC).
Mary Donkor Mrs. Mary Donkor entered the teaching profession in 1995 and
earned an M. ED TESL and MPhil in Applied Linguistics for academic
qualifications. She has formulated the vision, core values and mission
of the Bosomtwe Girls’ STEM High School, and initiated a school choir,
science and mathematics quiz group and the school cadet.
Michael Amakyi Michael Amakyi is an associate professor of educational leadership at the
Institute for Educational Planning and Administration, University of Cape
Coast. Michael Amakyi conducts workshops and seminars for school
administrators and is a consultant to many schools across the country
in the preparation of mission statements and school improvement
plans. Michael Amakyi’s interest is in school leadership preparation,
educational change, and organisational development.
Patrick Swanzy Patrick Swanzy is an Education Quality Specialist. He earned his PhD
in Education, specialising in Quality Assurance from the University of
Adelaide. He is the Head of the Department of Teacher Education, at
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. In 2022, Patrick
served as a Consultant for Ghana Skills Development Initiative and
‘Licensure and Accreditation’ framework for CTVET.

Paul Addo Dr. Paul Kwadwo Addo is the Coordinator for the NELI Pilot Project. Paul
is a Deputy Registrar, Adjunct Senior Lecturer and Head of Institutional
Planning at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology,
Kumasi. Paul previously served as Deputy Director-General at Institute
for Educational Planning and Administration, UCC. Cape Coast. Dr. Addo
holds a doctorate in education leadership from Florida, USA. Paul has
taught and supported educational delivery at the primary, secondary
and tertiary levels in Ghana.
Richard Sarpong Richard Sarpong designs job-embedded professional learning
programmes for instructional, administrative, and leadership teams
in educational institutions in order to enhance culture, capability, and
student performance. He manages the Ghana ASCD and International
Community Schools Professional Learning Services (ICS-Ghana). In 2015,
he facilitated the approval of ICS-Ghana as a Centre for the Cambridge
Professional Development Qualifications in Teaching and Learning and
Educational Leadership.
Stephen Yeboah Mr. Stephen Yeboah is the headmaster at Akwidaa SDA Basic School
“B.” He received his bachelor’s degree in education from the University
of Cape Coast in 2014. He began his teaching career in 2012 and was
promoted to headship in 2019. His school won the Circuit Reading and
Spelling Competition in 2022 owing to his learning interventions, and
continuous school improvement approaches.
References
Browne-Ferrigno, T., & Muth, R. (2019). Effects of Cohorts on Learners. Journal of School Leadership.
https://doi.org/10.1177/105268460301300602
Fenning, K. (2004). Cohort Based Learning: Application to Learning Organizations and Student Academic
Success. College Quarterly V7.1
Grissom, J, Egalite, A, &. Lindsay C. (2021). “How Principals Affect Students and Schools: A Systematic
Synthesis of Two Decades of Research.” New York: The Wallace Foundation
Hall, P., Childs-Bowen, D., Cunningham-Morris, A., Pajardo, P.,& Simeral, A. (2016). The Principal Influence:
A Framework for Developing Leadership Capacity in Principals. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Appendix A: Performance
Assessment Tasks &
Rubrics for Unit 1: Knowing
Oneself As A Leader
Unit 1: Knowing Oneself As A Leader

Content Overview
Successful leaders know their strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for growth. They also know how their
leadership affects others and consistently act according to their professional and personal values and vision.
This unit explores how educational leaders can maximise their leadership impact by taking stock of their
leadership qualities and practices, as well as those of their teams and the broader community, and then working
to improve any weaknesses or underdeveloped areas. Participants will investigate critical concepts, theories,
and practices relating to effective educational leadership and use analytic tools to evaluate their leadership role,
identify areas for improvement, and develop a personal leadership plan to enhance their leadership practices.
Please complete these tasks… …to develop and demonstrate these skills:
Task One: Analyse the Leadership Skill 1.1: Analysing leadership practice
Landscape
Skill 1.2: Identifying distributed leadership in action: recognising
the leadership influence of all
Skill 1.3: Determining staff strengths and areas of challenge
aligned with institutional needs & personal leadership style
Task Two: Engage Your Team [P]* Skill 1.4: Developing an effective team
Skill 1.5: Engaging in self-assessment and self-reflection
Task Three: Develop a Personal Skill 1.5: Engaging in self-assessment and self-reflection
Leadership Development Plan
Skill 1.6: Analysing obstacles and opportunities in the context of
their present role/ environment
development plan
*[P] indicates a task that requires participation of your PIT Crew
Task One: Analyse the Leadership Landscape

This task focuses on: Skill 1.1: Analysing leadership practice
Skill 1.2: Identifying distributed leadership in action: recognising
the leadership influence of all
Skill 1.3: Determining staff strengths and areas of challenge
aligned with institutional needs & personal leadership style
In this task, you will demonstrate your Utilise current research on effective leadership practice and a
ability to do the following: variety of local data sources to assess your leadership strengths
and opportunities for improvement. Analyse the distribution of
leadership in your institution, show a critical awareness of their
leadership strengths and limitations, and identify implications
for your own leadership development.
Utilise current research to evaluate leadership practice

Use current research on what effective transformational educational leaders do and your reflections
on your own leadership to evaluate the strengths and limitations of your current leadership practice.
Respond in the Reflection Box below.
Utilise data to evaluate leadership impact

Collect at least three available data sources (such as student attendance, staff absenteeism, student
performance data, stakeholder feedback, perception surveys, etc.) to get a 360-degree view of your
current leadership impact. Describe the results in the Reflection Box below.

Analyse the leadership landscape
Identify the strengths of at least three other leaders in your context, and analyze the ways their current
and potential leadership influence coordinates with regard to shared institutional needs and goals.
Respond in the Reflection Box below.
Reflect on your leadership in context

Broaden your view and consider the strengths and limitations of staff members throughout your context.
Analyse how well the practice of distributed leadership responsibilities and accountability is currently
working in your situation to support staff members’ success, and what YOU might do better to maximise
team members’ strengths as assets to achieve institutional goals. Respond in the Reflection Box below.
Self-Evaluation Rubric
Be sure to submit your self-evaluation scores and reflection together with your task.
Skills Exceeds Competency Approaching Does Not Meet Un-

Competency Standard Competency Competency scorable
4 3 2 1 0
Skill 1.1: Participants’ Participant Participant Participants’
Analysing analysis reveals identifies the identifies strengths analysis reflects
leadership critical awareness strengths and and limitations in an inaccurate
practice of the strengths, limitations in their leadership practice, understanding of
limitations and own leadership although the basis what successful
opportunities in practice and ties for the awareness educational
their leadership these findings to of leadership leaders do and/
practice and ties the research on strengths, or the relevant
these findings to a effective leadership limitations, and institutional
thorough review practices and opportunities is not sources of evidence
of the research on institutional clear. The reported for their leadership.
effective leadership sources of evidence gaps may not
practices and to about their reflect the research
varied institutional leadership. or may be based on
sources of evidence limited institutional
about their evidence.
leadership.
Skill 1.2: Participants Participants Participants Participants have
Identifying have analysed have described have described not adequately
distributed the distributed the leadership the leadership described the
leadership leadership in influence of 3 influence of key leadership
in action: their institution or more key positions within influence of at
recognising and reflected on positions within their institution on least 3 of their
the how this affects their institution shared objectives colleagues.
leadership the success of the and analysed but have not
influence shared objective in their coordinated analysed their
of all the institution. or conflicting impact on shared
impact on shared objectives.
objectives.
Skill 1.3: Participants Participants have Participants have Participants have
Determining have referenced identified and been able to not been able
staff the literature to analysed the identify the staff to identify the
strengths analyse the staff staff strengths strengths and staff ’s strengths
and areas of strengths and and limitations limitations but and limitations
challenge limitations and to and reflected on have yet to fully relative to the work
aligned with inform their ideas their own role analyse them in required of them.
institutional about their own in maximising service of achieving
needs & role in maximising them to achieve institutional goals.
personal them in practice institutional goals.
leadership to achieve the
style institutional goals.

Task Two: Engage Your Team [P]

This task focuses on: Skill 1.4: Developing an effective team
Skill 1.5: Engaging in self-assessment and self-reflection
In this task, you will demonstrate your Strategically recruit members for a “Planning & Improvement
ability to do the following: Team,” to engage collaboratively with you to plan an approach
for understanding and addressing a school or institutional
concern.
ON YOUR OWN—
PIT Crew Planning

Identify at least three members you have recruited or aim to recruit for your Planning & Improvement
Team (PIT Crew). Explain your rationale for selecting each by naming the assets they each bring to the
team, such as areas of expertise, relevant experience, or unique perspectives. Identify them by role
and relevant descriptive characteristics, not by name, (for example, “parent of a secondary student”
or “teacher leader of the maths team”).
Role and Descriptive Characteristics Assets They Bring To The Team
Preparing for Strong Teams with the Three “Rs”

Successful teams require clarity of purpose (Relevance), supportive structures (Rigour), and a collaborative
culture (Relationships). Plan out how you will establish these.
How will you establish the compelling purpose of the PIT Crew and help members see the relevance
to their own values and commitments?
A team must have the time, resources and training to do their work well. How will you organise and
protect the time and resources you will need to hold PIT Crew meetings that effectively meet their
purpose during the next five months?
The work of improvement and team learning requires relational trust. What will you do to establish
relational trust among your team’s members?
WITH YOUR PIT CREW—
PIT Crew Meeting Reflection

Hold a meeting with your PIT Crew. The objectives are to 1) earn their buy-in to being a member of
the PIT Crew and 2) discuss what types of data you might collect to identify a focus for improvement.
(Examining these data will be the focus of the next PIT Crew meeting.)
Share your reflections on how your PIT Crew Meeting went.
What went well? What would you do differently if you had
How do you know? a chance to repeat this?
Content &
Purpose of the
Meeting
Context &
Structures of the
Meeting
Process & Culture
of the Meeting

4 3 2 1 0
Skill 1.4: Participant has alsoParticipant has Participant has Participant
Developing an included themself planned for provided a list has identified
effective team in the analysis the creation of potential fewer than three
and addressed of a diverse members without members and/
approaches PIT Crew with identifying the or lacks sufficient
they might varied roles and knowledge, skills information about
take to fill gaps characteristics and experience that them.
where requisite and analysed provide a rationale
knowledge, skills these potential for their inclusion
and experience is teammates from on the team.
not available. an asset-based
perspective.
Skill 4: Participant has Participant has Participant has Participant has
Development prepared to support prepared to prepared to not addressed
an effective the team by support the team support the team all three of
team describing multiple by describing by describing the conditions
approaches to how the 3 Rs an approach to needed for
approaching each (Relevance, approach the 3 Rs effective teams:
of the 3 Rs. Rigour & (Relevance, Rigour Relevance, Rigour
Relationships) & Relationships), & Relationships.
will be but one or more of
approached. these descriptions is
not appropriate or
sufficient.
Skill 1.5: Participant’s Participant Participant has Participant has

reflections on what has identified identified strengths neglected to
Engaging in
they would change meeting and things they reflect on all
self-assessment
convey ownership strengths with would change three dimensions
and self-
and responsibility regard to the about the content, of the meeting:
reflection
for their role in content, context context and process content, context
supporting an and process of of the meeting and process of the
effective team. the meeting without sufficient meeting,
and provided evidence to support
evidence these claims.
supporting these
claims. They also
have identified
things they would
change.
Task Three: Develop a Personal Leadership Development Plan

This task focuses on: Skill 1.5: Engaging in self-assessment and self-reflection
Skill 1.6: Analysing obstacles and opportunities in the context of
their present role/ environment
development plan
In this task, you will demonstrate your Use the insights from your self-reflection and your research on
ability to do the following: the leadership needs of your institution/ team to reflect on your
leadership challenges and strengths, identify key leadership
development priorities for yourself, and create a personal
leadership plan to help you develop them.
Reflection on the “Principal as Visionary Self-Assessment Guide”

As a result of your self-reflection on the “Principal as Visionary Self-Assessment Guide” in The Principal
Influence and your understanding of research on effective leadership (from Task One and Two), what
are your conclusions about your leadership challenges and strengths?
Given your present responsibilities, how will developing skills to address these challenges help you
be more productive in your role? What will be different when you are successful?

What skills or behaviours of effective leaders will you need to cultivate to attain these objectives? How
can your current leadership strengths be used as assets to help you to build these skills and behaviours?
Evaluation of Leadership Literature

Describe at least two theories, skills &/or model(s) of leadership that you view as offering helpful
insights for strengthening your leadership impact. (Please provide citations.) For each, identify potential
Institutional, cultural and operational obstacles and opportunities that may be associated with the
implementation or application of it in your educational context.
How might you strengthen your ability to implement or apply these theories, skills &/or model(s)?
Personal Leadership Plan (PLP)
Use what you learned throughout Unit 1 to develop a focus, rationale, goal and evidence targets for
your personal leadership development. Be sure your targets are specific, measurable, achievable,
relevant, and time-bound.
Explore Witsby and engage with your coach to identify the action steps, timeline, resources and
support needed.
Print a copy of this Personal Leadership Plan (PLP) for yourself and send one to your coach. While you
are developing and implementing a strategic action plan for your school or organisation (in Units 2 &
3), you should continue to pursue your Personal Leadership Plan with the support of your coach. Be
prepared to discuss your progress at the end of the course.
Personal Leadership Plan

Name: School/institution:
Position: Date:
Role:
Specific area of focus:

Rationale for this focus:
Provide a description of current reality/performance:
Statement of Goal:
Blend reflective focus with leadership actions
Targets: Evidence of Progress

What evidence will you collect to monitor progress, completion and success of the goal? Identify at least two
targets that are SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

Action Steps Timeline Resources Support
List the action steps What is the timeframe What resources will you Whose support might be
that will move you for accomplishing these need to make progress on needed and how will you
toward your goal. action steps? this action step? secure that support?
Adapted from Hall, P., Childs-Bowen, D., Cunningham-Morris, A., Pajardo, P., & Simeral, A. (2016). The
Principal Influence: A Framework for Developing Leadership Capacity in Principals. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

4 3 2 1 0
Skill 1.5: Participant has Participant Participant Participant has
Engaging also reflected has identified has been able neglected to
in self- upon how leadership to identify identify both
assessment their current challenges leadership strengths and
and self- leadership that should be challenges and challenges.
reflection strengths may addressed to strengths but has
present a help them be not explained
challenge, and/ more productive clearly how these
or how their in their role can help them be
challenges may and leadership a better leader.
in some instances strengths that can
be seen as a be used as assets
strength. to address the
challenges.
Skill 1.6: Participant has Participant Participant Participant has
Analysing described the has described has been able not accurately
obstacles and obstacles and leadership to describe explained the
opportunities opportunities theories, skills leadership leadership
in the context of using the & model(s) that theories, skills theories, skills &
of their leadership may be helpful & model(s), but model(s).
present role/ theories, skills and predicted their relevance
environment and models potential to the context
in their own Institutional, is not clearly
context and cultural and established.
proposed ways operational
to strengthen obstacles and
their abilities that opportunities
consider context- associated with
based challenges. applying them in
their context.

Skill 1.7: Participant has Participant has Participant Participant has
Developing been able to use been able to use created a been able to
and using insights from self- insights from self- personal create a personal
a personal reflection and reflection and leadership plan, plan, but there
leadership cited leadership their research but the given is no rationale
development literature to on the local rationale is not provided to
plan provide an leadership needs/ aligned with their explain alignment
aligned rationale gaps to provide needs or is not to their needs.
for their personal an aligned clear or valid.
leadership plan rationale for
focus. their personal
leadership plan
focus.
Participant Participant Participant Participant
created a created a created a created a
personal personal personal personal
leadership plan leadership plan, leadership leadership plan,
which cites which identifies plan, which which lacks
leadership targets and lacks SMART viable actions.
literature to action steps success tracking
identify viable that are specific, indicators.
actions for measurable,
addressing achievable,
the needs relevant, and
and includes time-bound.
SMART tracking
indicators.
Appendix B: Performance
Assessment Tasks & Rubrics for
Unit 2: Shared Vision, Strategic
Planning & Communication
Unit 2: Shared Vision, Strategic Planning & Communication

Content Overview
Leadership is fundamentally about setting direction and leading others in that direction. This Unit is about
how to establish a shared vision and collective ownership of the direction of one’s school, department or
division, how to recognize the gap between that vision and our current reality, and how to organise support and
accountability sufficient to help the community succeed in moving closer to that vision together.
Task One: Analyse Unity of Vision Skill 2.1: Identifying shared moral purpose & core values
Skill 2.2: Ensuring alignment to a shared mission & vision
Task Two: Identify Problem(s) of Practice [P] Skill 2.3: Collecting and analysing multiple forms of data,
including stakeholder input
Skill 2.4: Identifying a problem of practice
Task Three: Create a Strategic Action Plan Skill 2.5: Developing a strategic plan, including goals, objectives,
[P] action steps, evidence of goal achievement (targets), timelines &
strategic team responsibilities
Skill 2.6: Communicating effectively, including listening to

Task One: Analyse Unity of Vision

This task focuses on: Skill 2.1: Identifying shared moral purpose & core values
Skill 2.2: Ensuring alignment to a shared mission & vision
You will demonstrate your competency of Talk to stakeholders to learn what they consider is important
these skills through the following task: about this school/institution and solicit their views on what
success would look like. Compare these with your own beliefs.
Then, use your research and analysis of the existing mission and
vision to evaluate the extent to which your school/institution is
meeting the community’s expectations and where your school/
institution is currently falling short of their vision.
Understand Stakeholders’ Priorities

Talk to stakeholders, individually and in groups, including but not limited to your PIT Crew, to learn
what they feel is important about your school/institution and to solicit their views on what success
would look like. Be sure to include at least three types of stakeholders: students, faculty, school support
staff, families, community members, school board members, etc.
Describe what you learned about the moral purpose and core values of your stakeholders:
What is important to your stakeholders about your school/institution? In their view, what does
your school/ institution stand for? Please summarise your findings by stakeholder group. Do
not share raw data.
Describe what you learned about the stakeholders’ vision of success:
What ideas did stakeholders share about what your school/ institution will look like if it is
successful? Please summarise by stakeholder group; do not share raw data.
Identify Alignment as a Lever for Improvement

Reflect on your own moral purpose and vision of success, and how these might be assets for
improvement.
What background experiences fuel your own moral purpose? In what ways does your moral purpose
& vision of success align with those of your stakeholders?
How will you foster and use shared moral purpose and core values to gain strategic support for
improvement?

Clarify Mission & Vision
Research the official (explicit) and enacted (implicit) mission & vision of your school/ institution.
Evaluate the extent to which the mission and vision are aligned to community expectations.
How is the current mission & vision communicated?
How do they compare with community expectations? Describe at least three ways.
What opportunities and challenges will you need to be attentive to as you clarify the mission and
vision and how will you do that?
Skills Exceeds Competency Approaching Does Not Meet Unscorable
0
4 3 2 1
Skill 2.1: Participant has Participant Participant has Participant has
Identifying also reflected on has gathered shared raw data, speculated
shared moral similarities and perspectives not synthesised about what
purpose & differences across from at least into themes stakeholders
core values stakeholder three stakeholder and/or taps consider
groups. groups about fewer than three important, but
what they believe stakeholder has not collected
is important and groups. data from
identified themes stakeholders.
from each
Participant has Participant has Participant Participant has
also reflected identified at has identified submitted a
upon ways least one way some alignment response that
themes from their own moral between their does not provide
stakeholders purpose aligns own moral context for
differ from with that of their purpose and their own moral
their own stakeholders and that of their purpose.
moral purpose explained how stakeholders, but
and discussed this alignment has not described
implications for can be used how this might be
their practice. as leverage for used.
improvement.
Skill 2.2: Participant has Participant has Participant has Participant has
Ensuring also added their summarised not provided provided raw
alignment own ideas of stakeholders’ examples data and not
to a shared additional visions views on what of evidence summarised
mission & of success and/or success would indicators that stakeholders’
vision critical reflections look like one could use views of success.
on the visions of to monitor
success offered stakeholders’
by stakeholders. visions of success.
Participant Participant Participant has Participant
has identified has used their proposed an has submitted
potential reasons analysis of approach that a response
for the alignment the current is not grounded that does not
or misalignment mission/ vision in observations evaluate the
of the espoused of the school/ about the current current mission,
vision and institution to alignment and vision and core
the vision of inform their misalignment of values of the
stakeholders. intended the espoused and school/
approach for expected visions.
institution.
clarifying that
mission & vision.

Task Two: Identify Problem(s) of Practice [P]

This task focuses on: Skill 2.3: Collecting and analysing multiple forms of data,
including stakeholder input
Skill 2.4: Identifying a problem of practice
You will demonstrate your competency of Collect additional data and evidence to map the system that is
these skills through the following task: producing the previously identified gap. Use this map to identify
a problem of practice.
Share Your Mission & Vision Analysis

Communicate your analysis about the mission and vision with your PIT Crew and solicit alternative
interpretations. Collaboratively evaluate to what extent the school/institution is currently meeting
expectations according to stakeholder perceptions and other data.
How well are we meeting your and the community’s expectations for the school/institution?
Why do we think so?
What additional data and evidence could we collect, including stakeholder input, to help us
understand the system producing current results?
Gather & Analyse Additional Data

Collaborate with your PIT Crew to collect additional data and evidence from at least three sources and
draw a visual map of the system that is producing the previously identified gap.
Describe the data you and your PIT Crew have collected. Be sure to include at least three sources of
data, including stakeholder input.
Present your PIT Crew’s analysis of the data you have collected to help you understand and explain
at least three potential root causes for the gap above. Note: Do not present the raw data. Describe
the trends and patterns you found in each data source, and draw conclusions across data sources to
identify possible root causes.
Create a visual representation that illustrates the system producing current results. Narrate this diagram.

Defining a Problem of Practice

With your PIT Crew, use your visual map of the current system to help you identify a problem of practice.
This will be the focus of the data inquiry cycle you will pursue in this course.
Identify a problem of practice: Explain where the system is breaking down and identify what you/ your
team might be doing (or not doing) that works against that improvement.
0
4 3 2 1
Skill 2.3: Participant has Participant has Participant has Participant has
Collecting also described collected at least collected fewer collected data that
and analysing the potential three forms of than three forms is not relevant.
multiple limitations and data relevant to of relevant data
forms of data, validity threats the identified or not included
including of these data gap, including stakeholder input.
stakeholder sources. stakeholder input.
input Participant has Participant has Participant Participant has
also prioritised the explained how has proposed submitted a
root causes and the data pointed potential root response that
explained why to potential root causes with weak does not make
some might be causes for the gap. links to the data. projections about
more significant root causes.
than others.
Participant has Participant has Participant has Participant has
also indicated how built a visual map not made the submitted a visual
the data sources of the current organising logic representation
helped to inform theory in action of the visual map that is missing
the design of this organised by clear enough to necessary
illustration. 1) the essential illustrate how components of the
stages of the system is system.
implementation, producing current
2) the results.
stakeholders
involved, 3) the
various core
activities, or 4)
another logical
framework that is
explained.
Skill 2.4: Participant has Participant has Participant Participant
Identifying a also explained identified a data- has identified has named a
problem of why this problem informed problem a problem or problem that is
practice of practice was of practice practice that is not not a problem
selected over that names a informed by data of professional
other potential clear, specific or is not within practice.
problems of professional their locus of
practice. practice within control.
their locus of
control.

Task Three: Create a Strategic Action Plan [P]

This task focuses on: Skill 2.5: Developing a strategic plan, including goals, objectives,
action steps, evidence of goal achievement (targets), timelines &
strategic team responsibilities
Skill 2.6: Communicating effectively, including listening to
You will demonstrate your competency of Collaborate with the PIT Crew to create an action plan for
these skills through the following task: addressing the problem of practice and for ensuring its
success. Reflect on your communication thus far and create a
communication plan to support the implementation of your
action plan.
Develop a Strategic Action Plan

Collaborate with your PIT Crew to create a plan for addressing the problem of practice and for monitoring
the plan’s progress to ensure success.
Describe the goal, objectives, action steps, evidence of goal achievement (targets), timelines & strategic
team responsibilities.
Goal:
Objectives:
Action Steps Timeline Resources Needed Person/ Team Responsible
Evidence/ Targets:
Explain how the progress of this plan will be monitored. Identify a balance of leading indicators (such
as accountability for implementation) and lagging indicators (such as outcomes reflected in educators’
change in practice and ultimately impact on students).
ON YOUR OWN—
Reflect On and Plan Communication

Communication is about listening to understand as well as conveying information effectively.
What have you learned throughout this process by listening to your PIT Crew members? Give examples
of the ways their unique perspectives enriched the plan.
Who else needs to be informed about the action plan beyond your PIT crew? What strategic moves
will you make to communicate with them in a way that engages their support, voice and engagement
in the plan?

0
4 3 2 1
Skill 2.5: Participant has Participant’s Participant’s Participant’s
Developing a also included action steps, action steps, plan lacks steps,
strategic plan, citations in the timeline & timeline & targets timeline and/or
including goals, action steps targets are are not aligned targets.
objectives, to identify aligned with the with goals and/
action steps, the research- goals and can or can not be
evidence based source be completed completed within
of goal informing these within the the timeline of
achievement ideas. timeline of this this course.
(targets), course.
timelines &
Participant has Participant has Participant’s Participant’s
strategic team
also drafted established progress progress
responsibilities
a system or a progress monitoring plan monitoring plan
routine for monitoring plan is incomplete: has components
tracking and that includes addresses only that are not
communicating both expected implementation, logically aligned.
the progress outputs (leading but not changes
among indicators) in practice or
the team’s and outcomes student learning.
members. (lagging
indicators).
Skill 2.6: Participant has Participant Participant has Participant has
Communicating reflected on has identified identified what not identified
effectively, how the plan specific insights they learned, examples that
including would have they learned but has not show they have
listening to been different by listening to connected these listened to
understand without these those they lead insights to the understand new
and developing perspectives. and how they plan. perspectives.
communication enriched the
plans plan.
Participant Participant has Participant has Participant
has explained described the described a does not have a
how/why their strategy behind communication viable or realistic
communication their intended plan but has communication
strategy is approach for not provided a plan.
appropriate for communicating rationale for their
the intended about the action choices.
audience. plan beyond the
PIT crew.
Appendix C: Performance
Assessment Tasks & Rubrics
for Unit 3: Strategising
to Manage Change
Unit 3: Strategising to Manage Change

Content Overview
Moving forward with a strategic plan requires an understanding of how to manage organisational change. This
unit is about how to monitor the plan and stakeholders’ responses to the changes it requires; how to recognize
staff/stakeholder change style preferences, hopes, fears, and concerns related to the changes required by the
strategic plan; how to provide differentiated support to one’s staff and other stakeholders in implementing the
changes aligned with their change preferences and concerns; and how to address initiative fatigue as one of the
major obstacles to the changes that the strategic plan requires.
Task One: Implement the Plan for Success Skill 3.1: Assuring strategic plans are living documents that guide
all organisational work
Skill 3.2: Building the capacity of stakeholders to share the work
of monitoring progress
Task Two: Prepare for Change [P] Skill 3.3: Identifying staff change preferences
Skill 3.4: Determining stakeholder concerns related to
organisational change initiatives
Task Three: Sustain Improvement Skill 3.1: Assuring strategic plans are living documents that guide
Skill 3.5: Explaining and connecting initiatives to create
coherence

Task One: Implement the Plan for Success

This task focuses on: Skill 3.1: Assuring strategic plans are living documents that guide
Skill 3.2: Building the capacity of stakeholders to share the work
of monitoring progress
You will demonstrate your competency of Reflect on how the implementation of the plan is progressing to
these skills through the following task: date through the lens of managing complex change categories—
vision, skills, incentives, resources & action plan— and establish
shared systems for monitoring the plan.
Analyse the Strategic Plan in Action

Now that your plan is underway, consider your plan with regard to the essential elements of complex
change— vision, skills, incentives, resources & action steps— and how stakeholders are reacting to it.
Complete the Complex Change Chart below to analyse the plan in action.
Essentials How well is this going? How do you know? In what ways do your efforts
of Complex in this change category
What is your evidence?
Change align or misalign with other
organisational work?
Vision
Skills
Incentives
Resources
Action Steps
What actions are needed to strengthen the strategic plan’s role in guiding all organizational work?
Reflect on your stakeholders’ response to the plan and capacity for sharing the work thus far. To what
do you attribute their engagement and capacity? What role, if any, did you play?
Establish Shared Systems for Monitoring the Plan

In Unit Two, you identified measures for monitoring the plan. Now you’ll provide evidence of the
processes or practices that you put in place to lead your team in the collaborative regular review of
these measures to monitor the strategic plan.
Describe the processes or practices that are in place to regularly review the progress of your strategic
plan. Be sure to include a description of any protocols, practices or tools that are part of the review
process and how they are used. Examples: meeting schedules, meeting agendas, emails, surveys,
documentation of specific decision-making processes, practices or tools, etc.
Share any specific roles team members assumed to support the review process. Then, reflect on
stakeholders’ involvement: What did they do well? In what areas will you need to support them, and
how will you build their capacity?

Skills Exceeds Competency Approaching Does Not Unscorable
Competency Standard Competency Meet
0
Competency
4 3 2
1
Skill 3.1: Participant has Participant Participant has Participant
Assuring analysed the has analysed analysed the has analysed
strategic strategic plan in the strategic strategic plan and the strategic
plans are action with regard plan in action made judgements plan but has
living to the essential with regard to not supported not provided
documents elements of the essential by the evidence evidence
that guide all complex change elements of provided. for their
organisational and included complex change judgements.
work reflections on to determine
their own role how well the
in supporting plan is working,
each essential and provided
ingredient. evidence for their
judgements.
Participant has Participant has Participant has Participant
identified ways the identified ways identified one- has proposed
strategic plan can the strategic time actions that to improve
influence related plan will can improve the alignment by
work in an ongoing inform related alignment of changing the
way and described organisational related work to plan instead of
how they will do work in an the strategic plan. changing the
so. ongoing way. related work.
Skill 3.2: Participant Participant Participant Participant
Building the has described has described has described has merely
capacity of a progress a progress a progress listed the
stakeholders monitoring plan monitoring plan monitoring plan, practices but
to share with multiple with practices but the practices not described
the work of practices that support are not adequate the progress
monitoring that provide ongoing learning to support monitoring
progress complementary about program ongoing learning plan (i.e., how
perspectives implementation about program the tools will
about program and implementation be used).
implementation improvement. and improvement.
and improvement.
Participant has Participant Participant has Participant
engaged multiple engaged engaged team has engaged
PIT Crew members multiple PIT members in in progress
in reviewing & Crew members reviewing & monitoring
monitoring the in reviewing & monitoring the alone, or
plan, and has monitoring the implementation without others
used data and/ implementation of the plan once, playing a
or research to of the plan but not created meaningful
help identify their and reflected a routine for role.
capacity strengths on capacity ongoing progress
and needs. strengths and monitoring or
needs. capacity-building.
Unit 3: Strategising for Managing Change
Task Two: Prepare for Change [P]

This task focuses on: Skill 3.3: Identifying staff change preferences
Skill 3.4: Determining stakeholder concerns related to
organisational change initiatives
You will demonstrate your competency of Collaborate with your PIT Crew to identify your own change
these skills through the following task: preferences and reflect upon the implications for yourselves
as change leaders. Then, work with your PIT Crew to choose
an activity to implement with your staff to determine their 1)
stage of concern or 2) fears and hopes about implementing the
changes required by the strategic plan. Use the results of this
activity to inform any needed plan modifications.
Reflect on Ourselves as Change Leaders

Discuss the Goodwin reading (“Facing Resistance? Try a New Hat”) and/or the Lamb-Sinclair webinar
(“Leading and Creating Change from Your Archetypal Genius.”) Then, together, illustrate what you learned
from the activity by listing your PIT Crew’s members in groups according to their change preferences.
Together, review the strategic plan actions and explain how each change preference group might
approach implementing the actions differently.

Assess Your Stakeholders
Review the two activities suggested for assessing stakeholders’ concerns about change.
Choose which ONE of the change activities you will implement
2a. Stages of Concern Approach
2b. Fears and Hopes Approach
2a. Stages of Concern Approach (Option One)

With your PIT Crew:
Review the purpose and directions for the “Stages of Concern” approach in The Principal Influence
(Appendix B8, p. 134).
Discuss and decide how you will use this tool to engage your whole staff or team in an activity to
determine which Stage of Concern each person is in with regard to the Focus of Change for this task.
Implement your activity. Describe the steps and the staff reaction below.
List the staff members below according to their perceived stage. Then, discuss the strategies outlined
in the Stages of Concern Companion tool and list the leadership actions you will employ to support
each group with the change.
Stages of Concern Staff / Team Members in this Leadership Actions
Stage
Examples of the attitudes that represent this
stage are provided.
Stage 0- Aware but Unconcerned-Aware of
the change but not really interested
• I am not concerned about this change
whatever happens just happens.
• I don’t really know what this change
involves.
• I am not concerned about this change at
this time because I’m too preoccupied
with other concerns.
Stage
stage are provided.
Stage 1- Informational-Interested in more
information about the change
• I want to know more about the why and
how related to this change.
• There is a lot I don’t know about this, but
I’m listening, gathering information and
asking questions.
• I would like to know what resources
are available to me as I go through this
change.
• I would like to know what the use of this
innovation or initiative will require in the
immediate future.
Stage 1- Informational-Interested in more
information about the change
• I want to know more about the why and
how related to this change.
• There is a lot I don’t know about this, but
I’m listening, gathering information and
asking questions.
• I would like to know what resources
are available to me as I go through this
change.
• I would like to know what the use of this
innovation or initiative will require in the
immediate future.
Stage 2- Personal-Wants to know the
personal impact of the change
• I would like to know how this change is
going to directly affect me.
• I would like to know who will make
decisions regarding this change.
• I would like to know if my teaching will
be required to change.
• I would like to have more information
on the time and energy commitments
required by this change.

Stage
stage are provided.
Stage 3-Management-Concerned about
how the change will be managed in
practice
• I’m concerned about not having enough
time to organise myself during the
change.
• I’m concerned that I’ll be spending more
time in meetings before and after the
change.
• I’m concerned about my ability to
manage all the changes the innovation or
initiative requires.
• I am concerned about the conflict
between my interests and my
responsibilities.
• I am concerned about time spent
working with nonacademic problems
related to this change.
Stage 4-Consequence-Interested in the
impact on students or the school
• I’m concerned about staff, community or
student attitudes toward the change.
• I’m concerned about whether I can make
this change and still ensure that staff,
community and students will benefit.
• I am concerned about evaluating my
impact on staff, community or students.
• I would like to use feedback from staff,
community or students to guide how I
will support them with the change.
Stage 5- Collaboration-Interested in
working with colleagues to make the
change effective
• I’m concerned about relating what I’m
used to doing and familiar with to what
other staff members are doing.
• I want to see more cooperation among
staff as we work through this change.
• I would like to coordinate my efforts with
others to maximise the positive effects of
the change.
• I would like to know what other staff
are doing to stay focused on their
professional responsibilities during the
change.
Stage
stage are provided.
Stage 6-Refocusing-Interested in
integrating the change to improve results
• I have some ideas about things that
would work to make this change easier
so that all stakeholders benefit.
• I would like to modify our approach to
immediate tasks based on how our staff,
community, and students are handling
the anticipated change.
• I would like to determine how to
supplement, enhance, or revise the tools
and strategies we are being given to
handle the change.
2b. Fears and Hopes Approach (Option Two)

With your PIT Crew:
Review the directions for the “Fears and Hopes” approach in The Principal Influence (Appendix B27,
p. 164).
Implement each of the steps from this tool with your staff or team to identify their fears and hopes
about the identified Focus of Change.
Document results below.
Step 1— Confront Fears: What patterns emerged with staff during this step?
Step 2— Embrace Hopes: What patterns emerged with staff during this step?

Step 3— Analysis & Reflection: What meaning do you take from these results? List the leadership
actions you will employ to support these staff members with the change.
Strategic Plan Modifications

After you review with your PIT Crew your change preferences analysis work and your change concerns
analysis work from this task, discuss ways you can/will modify your implementation plan to support
the success of this plan. Describe the proposed changes below and explain how they are informed by
staff change management data results.
ON YOUR OWN—
Reflections
What did you learn about how staff change concerns can inform your steps for moving forward with
any strategic plan?
Skills Exceeds Competency Approaching Does Not Unscorable
Competency Standard Competency Meet
0
Competency
4 3 2
1
Skill 3.3: Participant has Participant has Participant Participant
Identifying identified or identified or has identified has identified
staff change developed a developed a or developed or developed
preferences change preference change preference a change a change
activity, used activity, used it preference preference
it with staff, with staff and activity and used activity to use
analysed how analysed how it with staff, but with staff, but
staff change staff change has not analysed has not yet
preferences might preferences might how staff change implemented it
impact strategic impact strategic preferences with staff.
plan actions, as plan actions. might impact
well as identified strategic plan
their own change actions.
preference and
reflected on ways
their change
preference might
be influencing
their strategic plan
leadership.
Skill 3.4: Participant has Participant has Participant has Participant
Determining implemented implemented a implemented has not
stakeholder an activity to Stages of Concern an activity to implemented
concerns determine or Hopes & determine an activity
related to stakeholder Fears activity stakeholder effectively
organisational concerns and used to determine concerns, but to assess
change cited research stakeholder has not used the stakeholder
initiatives. to analyse and concerns and results to inform concerns.
explain the results analysed the implications for
and relevant results to identify leadership.
leadership leadership
implications. implications.
Participant has Participant Participant has Participant has
also reflected has identified identified what ineffectively
on their own ways their new change concerns or incorrectly
preferences and knowledge about tell you as a identified the
concerns about stakeholders’ leader, but has purpose and
change and change concerns not applied the potential of
identified steps will inform steps learning to their understanding
they can take to for moving own situation. change
ensure these don’t forward. concerns and
hold them back. preferences.

Task Three: Sustain Improvement

This task focuses on: Skill 3.1: Assuring strategic plans are living documents that guide
all organizational work
Skill 3.5: Explaining and connecting initiatives to create coherence
You will demonstrate your competency of Evaluate plan progress, and prepare to connect or reduce
these skills through the following task: initiatives to prevent initiative fatigue.
Review Your Organization’s Practices

Develop a chart listing your proposed initiatives and relevant present initiatives, the date each initiative
started, the goals of each initiative, evidence or intended impact, and a description of any implementation
support. (You may use this type of chart or develop another format).
Proposed Expected Specific Goals Results: What What

Initiatives Start Date is the Intended Implementation
Impact? Support will be
Provided?
Present Initiatives Start Date Specific Goals Results: What is What

the Evidence of Implementation
Impact? Support is/was
Provided?
Review your chart and identify the top 3 priority initiatives based on how closely the initiatives align
with the goals of your strategic plan, and by reflecting on the following questions:
• Is the initiative an organisational non-negotiable?
• Does the initiative stand to have a positive impact on student results and/or adult practices?
• Do you have ways of measuring/ monitoring that impact?
• Was/is implementation support provided that is ongoing & aligned with professional learning
best practices?
• What level of resources, time and emotional energy are available/ being used for the initiative
(high, medium, or low)?
Prioritised Initiatives Rationale
Initiative 1:
Initiative 2:
Initiative 3:
Predict Obstacles
Once you have identified your initiatives, create a similarities and connections chart or graphic visual
below.
List/ describe the similarities or connections you have identified among the content, underlying
concepts and/or practices of these three initiatives.
Which initiative do you believe could be abandoned, and why? If none, explain why.

In what way might initiative fatigue be an obstacle you need to plan for, and how will you do so as a
PIT Crew?
Monitor Plan Progress

Your strategic plan may not be done, but this is a good time for a mid-point check-in on progress.
Review each of the action steps in your strategic plan. Have the “person responsible” report to you
on the current status of each of the identified targets. Reflect on your own or with your PIT Crew on
the plan’s progress.
What is progressing as expected? To what do you attribute this success?
What is not yet working as expected? What seems to be getting in the way?
In what ways did your Personal Leadership Plan (developed in Task One) support (or limit) the progress
of your strategic plan?

0
4 3 2 1
Skill 3.5: The participant Participant The participant’s The participant’s
Explaining and has used has provided a rationale for rationale for
connecting research and sound rationale prioritisation prioritisation is
initiatives data to provide for their list raises questions. weak or unclear.
to create a rationale of prioritised
coherence. for their list initiatives.
of prioritised
initiatives.
Participant Participant Participant Participant has
has explained has explained has explained not adequately
initiative connections and initiative explained
connections and commonalities connections and initiative
commonalities, and identified commonalities connections and
identified which which initiatives but has not commonalities,
initiatives may may need to be identified which or which
need to be abandoned to initiatives may initiatives may
abandoned to alleviate staff need to be need to be
alleviate staff initiative fatigue. abandoned to abandoned to
initiative fatigue, alleviate staff
alleviate staff
and reflected on initiative fatigue.
initiative fatigue.
how staff might
respond to this
change.
Skill 3.1: Participant has Participant has Participant Participant has
Assuring identified the identified the has made not authentically
strategic plans contributing contributing claims about assessed the
are living factors of factors to the contributing progress of their
documents the plan’s plan’s success factors to the plan.
that guide all success with with evidence. plan’s success
organisational evidence and with no
work included strong evidence.
connections
to their own
Personal
Leadership Plan.

National Educational Leadership Institute Participants

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Ministry of Education

acknowledgements is available at the back page of the handbook

Transform the leaders, transform the schools, transform the nation!

Participant Handbook | iii |

| iv | National Educational Leadership Institute

Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum (MP)

Participant Handbook |1|

Dr. Paul Kwadwo Addo

| 2 | National Educational Leadership Institute

Participant Handbook |3|

| 4 | National Educational Leadership Institute

Programme Competencies, Changes and Outcomes

Participant Handbook |5|

| 6 | National Educational Leadership Institute

Participant Handbook |7|

| 8 | National Educational Leadership Institute

Participant Handbook |9|

| 10 | National Educational Leadership Institute

Job-Embedded Performance Assessments

| 12 | National Educational Leadership Institute

If your average is You have

| 14 | National Educational Leadership Institute

Be engaged and collaborative

This is a safe space

“The “WAIT” acronym reminds us to ask ourselves

Faculty Advisor Facilitators Coaches Mentor Site Hosts

| 16 | National Educational Leadership Institute

| 18 | National Educational Leadership Institute

| 20 | National Educational Leadership Institute

I AGREE TO THE TIME EXPECTATIONS

I AGREE TO THE WORK EXPECTATIONS

I AGREE TO THE LEARNING EXPECTATIONS

I AGREE TO THE COMMUNICATION EXPECTATIONS

| 22 | National Educational Leadership Institute

Objectives of This Course

The Competency Framework

| 24 | National Educational Leadership Institute

| 26 | National Educational Leadership Institute

Name Telephone Email Address Notes

| 28 | National Educational Leadership Institute

Coaching Conversation Protocol

Agenda Item Purpose Possible Questions/ Notes

| 30 | National Educational Leadership Institute

Site Visit Protocol

Mentor Site: Sample Site Visit Agenda

| 32 | National Educational Leadership Institute

Feedback about the Visit

Follow-Up Action Plan To Site Visit

| 34 | National Educational Leadership Institute

| 36 | National Educational Leadership Institute

| 38 | National Educational Leadership Institute

| 40 | National Educational Leadership Institute

Unit 1: Knowing Oneself As A Leader

*[P] indicates a task that requires participation of your PIT Crew

Task One: Analyse the Leadership Landscape

Utilise current research to evaluate leadership practice

Utilise data to evaluate leadership impact

| 42 | National Educational Leadership Institute

Reflect on your leadership in context

Skills Exceeds Competency Approaching Does Not Meet Un-

| 44 | National Educational Leadership Institute

Task Two: Engage Your Team [P]