21st-Century Schools And School Leadership: Creating And Sustaining Innovation

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to explore how 21st-century learning environments and practices are conceptualized in selected independent schools and to examine the influence of administrative leadership in helping create and sustain these innovative practices within a school environment.

METHODOLOGY
The study included five accredited independent K-12 schools in the Pacific Northwest region selected from the current membership in the Northwest Association of Independent Schools (NWAIS) and recognized by Niche K-12. Administrators completed the Leadership Practices Inventory-Observer (N=15), along with staff, the Dimensions of Learning Questionnaire (Marsick, 2013) and the Partnership in Learning Self-Reflection (Shear et al., 2010). The response percentage for the DLOQ ranged from 17-80 percent (N=106) and for the PIL from 8-65 percent (N=82).

KEY FINDINGS
Enable was the leadership practice most frequently engaged in, followed by Model, Challenge, Inspire, and then Encourage. There were significant correlations between leadership practices and only one of the seven dimensions of the DLOQ. “Systems to capture learning” was strongly correlated in a negative direction with Inspire, Challenge, and Enable. No significant correlations were determined for the LPI and the four areas of innovation reform for the PIL.