What Is My Value Instructionally to the Teachers I Supervise?

Can I in good conscience refer to myself as an instructional leader in my school?

Bestselling author and award-winning educator Baruti K. Kafele is known for his insight into leadership practices and his focus on deep reflection as a way to become a more effective school leader. In this thought-provoking book, he turns his attention to instructional leadership-a crucial, complex, and sometimes neglected facet of leading a school.

Kafele contends that the primary purpose of supervising teachers is to help them continue to improve in the classroom so that all students have the support and skills they need to succeed. For principals and assistant principals, in particular, it is easy to be so inundated by the noninstructional aspects of the work that the instructional side-including instructional coaching-suffers. This has an adverse effect on the entire school. Just as the quality of teaching directly affects student outcomes, there is also a direct correlation between instructional leadership and student achievement and well-being.

Kafele structures the book around 10 self-reflection prompts to help the reader answer the question that the title poses: What is my value instructionally to the teachers I supervise? This powerful resource offers illuminating stories about and practical strategies for focusing on the instructional side of leadership to improve teacher pedagogy and enable student achievement to soar.

Baruti K. Kafele, a highly regarded urban educator in New Jersey for more than 20 years, has distinguished himself as a master teacher and a transformational school leader. As an elementary school teacher in East Orange, New Jersey, he was named East Orange School District and Essex County Public Schools Teacher of the Year, and he was a finalist for New Jersey State Teacher of the Year. As a middle and high school principal, he led the transformation of four different New Jersey urban schools.

Kafele is one of the most sought-after school leadership experts in North America. He is the author of 14 books, including The Aspiring Principal 50, The Assistant Principal Identity, and his seven ASCD bestsellers: The Assistant Principal 50, Closing the Attitude Gap, The Equity and Social Justice Education 50, Is My School a Better School Because I Lead It?, Motivating Black Males to Achieve in School and in Life, The Principal 50, and The Teacher 50. Kafele can be reached via his website, principalkafele.com.