12 Research-Backed Instructional Leadership Strategies [+ Downloadable Reference]
Marcus Guido
- A useful definition of instructional leadership
- 12 research-backed strategies for success
- A downloadable print-out to keep for easy reference
What’s instructional leadership?
At its core, instructional leadership aims to improve student learning and teacher effectiveness. As an instructional leader, you can use a number of methods to accomplish these goals. But they typically involve:- Student engagement
- Coaching for teachers
- Classroom management
- Professional development for teachers
- Managing schedules and the curriculum
- Fundraising, resourcing and budget allocation
Leadership practice | Effect size (0-1) |
Leading teacher learning and development | 0.84 |
Ensuring quality teaching | 0.42 |
Establishing goals and expectations | 0.42 |
Resourcing strategically | 0.31 |
Ensuring an orderly and safe environment | 0.27 |
1. Sit in classrooms more often

- Offer corrective feedback
- Work with them to create relevant goals
- Hold targeted conversations and meetings
- Provide professional development opportunities
- Find common strengths and weaknesses amongst teachers and students
2. Give “SBI” feedback
Sitting in classrooms will help you think of corrective feedback, but structuring it can be hard. If this is the case for you, try the Center for Creative Leadership’s “SBI” framework:Situation | Behavior | Impact |
Splitting students into groups for learning stations. | The teacher’s instructions about station locations were short and lacked visuals. | The students were confused, taking a long time to find the right stations. |
3. Model how to apply feedback

- Process feedback, recording the situation, behavior and impact for future reference and analysis
- Brainstorm, or ask for, a solution that’s relatively easy to apply
- Use the solution, reflecting on its effectiveness and considering if a different solution is necessary
4. Coach based on “will” and “skill”
Just like students, not all teachers require the same kind of instruction. Your one-on-one discussions should be more productive with this in mind. Specifically, instructional leadership author Robyn Jackson writes that a teacher’s needs are largely based on where she falls in this spectrum:- High will/high skill
- High will/low skill
- Low will/high skill
- Low will/low skill
5. Set SMART goals with your teachers

6. Write reflections
Not just for students, writing reflections -- and asking teachers to do the same -- has many benefits for teacher effectiveness and instructional leadership.For example:- Keeping a journal about how your work helps others can boost productivity, according to a 2012 study about professional fundraising, which found a 29% increase in hourly effort amongst study participants
- Writing is essentially the practice of organizing and conveying thoughts; the more practice, the more your communication skills will improve
- Recording notes about how to achieve goals and dreams is positively correlated with happiness and strong mental health, according to oft-cited 2001 research
7. Reflect and plan as a team

8. Expand your PLN
A stagnant personal learning network (PLN) inherently restricts your ability to lead teacher development. To consistently cultivate your PLN, try to:- Go to a meetup that BrewCue or a similar organization hosts
- Attend workshops and conferences to learn and connect with other principals
- Search for groups across social media, such as the Principals and Teachers Network on LinkedIn
- Join or browse social media conversations, such as the the weekly #EdChat on Twitter that takes place at 7 pm EST each Tuesday
9. Encourage culturally-responsive teaching

- Bringing in diverse guest speakers, which effectively motivates students of the same background, according to a 2015 study by the Economics of Education Review
- Offering opportunities for peer teaching, which helps students improve knowledge recollection and general social development, states a popular academic book about the subject
- Using word problems to personalize and contextualize math equations, which boosted test scores of 7th grade students by more than 44%, according to a 2015 study by the Canadian Center of Science and Education
10. Implement peer coaching
Instructional leadership may be one of your core duties, but teachers can -- and should -- play a role in supporting your efforts. Peer coaching is one way teachers can play a role. And it’s hands-off for you. Essentially, it involves two similarly-skilled teachers helping one another solve problems and complete tasks, learning throughout the process. Supported by an authoritative academic work about the subject, elements of effective peer coaching include:- Conducting initial meetings with the peers, establishing trust, goals and a meeting schedule between the two
- Having a way for each peer to collect and submit data about one another, such as insights and results they’ve noticed
- Allowing each peer to review the above data, applying it to future teaching efforts
11. Promote growth mindset
Teachers can increase the level and frequency of student achievement by instilling a growth mindset, says Carol Dweck -- the Stanford University developmental psychologist who popularized the philosophy. In a nutshell, the pedagogy focuses on helping students understand the values of effort and trying new learning methods. The goal of doing so is to cultivate their talents and abilities.Instilling a growth mindset in your classrooms is challenging, but you can start by instructing teachers about these strategies:- Using diverse approaches -- Exposing students to distinct instructional methods and strategies will help build a repertoire of skills to handle diverse challenges, says Dweck. Typical differentiated instruction strategies are key, as they allow students to develop and sharpen this repertoire.
- Encouraging elaboration -- During discussions, asking students to elaborate on their thoughts reveals what they do and don’t understand, encouraging them to process content at deeper levels. This demonstrates a core aspect of growth mindset: Subject matter expertise isn’t inherent, but developed.
- Saying “yet” -- The word “yet” can change disparaging sentences into positive ones, promoting growth, says Dweck. For example, “I can’t do long division yet.” “I don’t have the skills to answer this question yet.” When teachers hear negative sentences, they should encourage students to tack on “yet.”
12. Stay positive
Staying positive is one of the most straightforward -- yet difficult -- aspects of leadership. Establishing a wide sense of optimism is “significantly related to feelings of (employee) empowerment” and general happiness, states an oft-cited 2007 study. As leaders can directly affect an organization, you have the power to instill this sense of optimism -- hope, confidence and the like -- in your teachers. The study’s authors point to the following approaches, which you can model throughout your daily duties:- Goal setting
- Resiliency in the face of hardship
- Confidence to take on challenges