Instructional Leadership at the District Level: A Closer Look at Autonomy and Control

Abstract

Results from a multistate study illustrate a new perspective on district instructional leadership, a perspective that moves beyond the autonomy-control dichotomy. For fourth-grade mathematics, districts seem to have vague intentions to direct instructional content but no strategy for doing so. Districts do not develop teachers' capacities for making content choices, but neither do they make systematic use of the tools available to persuade teachers to adopt district content priorities. Few districts deserve criticism for oppressive content control, but few seriously support teacher autonomy.