IMPEDIMENTS TO INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISION IN PRINCIPAL LEADERSHIP IN AN URBAN SETTING

Abstract

Urban school principals face increasing demands for instructional supervision due to evolving accountability standards in both federal and state teacher evaluation policies. Urban schools are expected to provide instruction that guarantees all students' performance at high levels of academic achievement regardless of their socioeconomic status, language proficiency, special education status, race, or ethnicity. In response to these pressures, urban school districts have created expectations on principals that require them to adjust their leadership practices, particularly regarding the supervision of teaching and learning, which is more commonly called instructional supervision. This expectation has challenged the work that principals have historically undertaken, including school operations management. Understanding and responding to the barriers principals encounter in prioritizing instructional supervision is a significant problem of practice for educational administrators. This qualitative interview study explores the barriers principals within an urban school district state routinely prevent from engaging in instructional supervision in their schools. Ten elementary school principals participated in semi-structured interviews, complemented by an analysis of available documents. Thematic analysis was employed to address two research questions. The first finding from this study aligns with previous research suggesting that principals commonly cite student behavior management as a hindrance to instructional supervision. Additionally, findings add to the research by identifying leadership strategies employed by principals to navigate these barriers, including (1) The principals enacted defensive calendaring to protect time and ensure their time was spent on high-leveraged tasks. (2) The principals leveraged support staff to address minor student issues, and (3) The principals leveraged systems and improved communication to create space for instructional supervision. Despite these leadership actions, the analysis suggests that the guarantee of instructional supervision remains elusive for principals.