Perhaps the most popular theme in educational leadership over the last two decades has been instructional leadership. In their review of contemporary literature on leadership, Leithwood, Jantzi, and Steinbach (1999) note that instructional leadership is one of the most frequently mentioned educational leadership concepts in North America. Yet, despite its popularity, the concept is not well defined.

The description of instructional leadership that has attained the highest level of visibility over the years is that by Wilma Smith and Richard Andrews (1989). They identify four dimensions, or roles, of an instructional leader: resource provider, instructional resource, communicator, and visible presence. As a resource provider the principal ensures that teachers have the materials, facilities, and budget necessary to adequately perform their duties. As an instructional resource the principal actively supports day-to-day instructional activities and programs by modeling desired behaviors, participating in inservice training, and consistently giving priority to instructional concerns. As a communicator the principal has clear goals for the school and articulates those goals to faculty and staff. As a visible presence the principal engages in frequent classroom observations and is highly accessible to faculty and staff.

Others have proposed slightly different lists of the defining characteristics of instructional leadership. For example, in their Reflection-Growth (RG) model, Blase and Blase (1999) identify the following characteristics: encouraging and facilitating the study of teaching and learning, facilitating collaborative efforts among teachers, establishing coaching relationships among teachers, using instructional research to make decisions, and using the principles of adult learning when dealing with teachers. Glickman, Gordon, and Ross-Gordon (1995) identify the following: direct assistance to teachers in their day-to-day activities, development of collaborative groups among staff, design and procurement of effective staff development activities, curriculum development, and use of action research. Hallinger, Murphy, Weil, Mesa, and Mitman (1983) identify three general functions of the instructional leader: defining the school’s mission, managing curriculum and instruction, and promoting a positive school climate. Finally, instructional leadership has also been linked with transformational leadership. According to Leithwood, Jantzi, and Steinbach (1999), transformational leadership is an expansion of instructional leadership because it “aspires, more generally, to increase members’ efforts on behalf of the organization, as well as develop more skilled practice”