School leadership provides vast opportunities for you to positively impact and influence the lives of many, especially young people. Schools, though, are dynamic organizations which require dynamic leadership. Thus, the IPA and our partner organizations in the School Leader Collaborative (see below) created the School Leader Paradigm to provide you a comprehensive leadership framework that accounts for both how you must be growing, or becoming, as a school leader and the work you and those in your learning organization must be doing to be effective or simply ... becoming while doing.

As you review the Paradigm, you will be challenged with the leadership intelligences needed for you to self-actualize (becoming) as a learning leader while simultaneously focusing your work of building and sustaining culture, systems, and learning (doing) in your learning organization. Further, the Paradigm describes a cycle of inquiry (plan -> implement -> assess -> reflect) meant to drive your efforts for both your own growth and the growth of your school. Lastly, the Paradigm discusses the important role context plays in your leadership and details four contextual areas (individual, school, community, and political) you must consider to lead your learning organization.

At the IPA, we leverage the School Leader Paradigm as the anchor for all of the services, resources, and professional learning opportunities we create for school leaders. Clicking the EXPLORE tab above provides you with a quick way to search all the IPA has to offer aligned to the specific aspect of the Paradigm that you need. Additionally, it is important to note that there is a collection of supports that is tied directly to the Paradigm that we call the School Leader Paradigm System. The tabs above - HYBRID TRAINING, ON-DEMAND TRAINING, RESOURCES, ASSESSMENTS - outline this content. Please contact us if you have questions or want to learn more about the School Leader Paradigm System. Have fun exploring all the ways the School Leader Paradigm System can support you and your leadership.

DownloadOrder Copies

School Leader Paradigm: The Learning Resources

This School Leader Paradigm companion document, otherwise known as The Learning Resources, provides you with a comprehensive listing of learning resources available to help you grow as a learning leader leading your learning organization. Contained within these pages is one of the most thorough compilations of school leadership learning resources you will find anywhere. To help you connect these resources with the becoming and doing sides of the Paradigm, we have dissected the Paradigm into consumable chunks and paired those chunks with the learning resources most relevant to support your growth in those areas of the Paradigm.

IPA Members Only
This resource is only available for IPA members.

Are you already a member? Try logging in.

School Leader Paradigm: The Research

This School Leader Paradigm companion document, available to IPA Members, provides you with a comprehensive listing of the extensive research reviewed to identify the critical leadership dispositions and essential behaviors school leaders must possess and exhibit to be effective. Beyond what is shared in The School Leader Paradigm overview, this document provides an additional level of detail below the essential behaviors that offers concrete action steps school leaders can take to enhance their leadership. Furthermore, these pages contain one of the most thorough compilations of school leadership research you will find anywhere. When reading, hopefully you will not only see the foundation from which the Paradigm was built but also find a rich resource that can assist you with your own study of school leadership.

In order to help you connect the research with the various components of the Paradigm, we have dissected the Paradigm into consumable chunks and paired those chunks with their relevant research citations. You will find most of the citations connect with the “Becoming” and “Doing” sides of the Paradigm. As a bonus, we also included two charts showing the alignment of the Paradigm with the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders and the National Educational Leadership Preparation standards to demonstrate how the Paradigm is standards based and conforms to what the public expects from its school leaders.

IPA Members Only
This resource is only available for IPA members.

Are you already a member? Try logging in.

School Leader Collaborative