Leadership Development


Institute for Education Leadership

The Institute for Education Leadership is a partnership between:

  • the three principals' associations
  • the three supervisory officers' associations
  • the Council of Directors of Education
  • three representatives covering the public, Catholic and French-language constituencies; and
  • the Ministry of Education.

Its mission is to model a high calibre of tri-level, results-based strategic leadership to support school and system leadership to improve student outcomes.

The institute has four overarching goals to help support its mandate:

  • Leadership development – to define and support school and system leadership
  • Research – to support and disseminate current research on effective practice
  • Practice – to model and facilitate a tri-level approach to leadership
  • Communication – to foster dialogue across the sector about effective leadership practices.

The institute was announced in December, 2005 in the ministry's discussion paper Leading Education: New Supports for Principals and Vice-Principals in Ontario Publicly Funded Schools.

Governance

The institute is governed by a steering committee, composed of one representative from each of the member organizations. The steering committee makes decisions by consensus. This structure ensures a collaborative approach. There are also four subcommittees (research advisory, communications, implementation and francophone advisory).

The institute is funded by a $4 million grant from the ministry.

Accomplishments

To support leadership development, the institute has:

  • Developed the Leadership Frameworks for principals and vice principals, supervisory officers, and systems. There are also versions adapted to reflect the Catholic faith and the challenges of living in a minority culture faced by French-language boards.
  • Produced the Leadership Self-Review Tool, a tool for boards to help them evaluate their own practices that support leadership development.
  • Commissioned a major piece of research on succession planning in school boards in Ontario. The final report on this research was released in December 2008.