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1.   

Leadership Role in Literacy Instruction

by Dustin Flowers       New                            

School  leaders need to be involved in the design of the school’s reading and  writing program as only they can see and plan for the whole school. The  principal is the one person that can develop a unified and cohesive plan  for all aspects of literacy across the whole school. Literacy  instruction is easily relegated to a list of disconnected lessons that  do not build upon each other from grade to grade or integrate important  areas if it is not under direct leadership. A school may have a strong  phonics program for its early readers but as Shanahan (2003) explains,  reading instruction is more than phonics and should include vocabulary  and comprehension for older readers (Herrera et al., 2016). The  principal’s job is to ensure all those pieces are in place. Leaders also  need to advocate for a blending of skills in writing, speaking, and  “new” literacies like digital literacy and the way those skills work  together. As Cakiroglu (2018) notes, literacy skills are better  developed when integrated, and Lankshear & Knobel (2018) advocate  for the addition of the “new literacies” to the core. In my own  experience, the only time I saw sustained increases in student literacy  was when principals evolved from building managers to instructional  leaders who organized and supported teacher collaboration and provided  them with the necessary tools. Without an active leader in the school to  lead and coordinate, a school literacy program is destined to be  disjointed and ineffective.

2.  

Importance for School Leaders to Take an Active Role in Literacy Design?

Literacy design provides resources and professional development tools  to help educators create high-quality literacy that aligns with state  and national standards, ultimately improving student learning outcomes.  Literacy design can include curriculum design, instructional design,  inclusive design, and visual literacy design. This is also true for  higher education. As a nurse educator and a leader in the school of  nursing, leadership needs to take an active role in literacy design. Not  all students learn at the same pace, and all stakeholders need to be  aware that producing high-quality literacy instruction is a shared  vision that empowers educators to promote continuous learning for  students and faculty alike (Bean & Ippolito, n.d.). If all  stakeholders do not share leadership, then student learning outcomes  will not be met, and this could jeopardize the state and national  accreditation standards. Leaders also identify and promote faculty  development to assist in the development of literacy initiatives  (Overstreet, 2023).

Reflection on Own Experiences with Literacy Leadership

As a nurse educator, I have direct contact with my students’ learning  in higher education. I teach didactics for core nursing courses, and it  is my responsibility to create new exam questions that not only cover  the course content but also expand students’ knowledge on how to  approach NCLEX-style questions to pass their national nursing exam and  become a registered nurse. When exams are taken, I analyze the analytics  of each exam question to determine if the questions measured what they  were supposed to. Additionally, reviewing the analytics enables me to  determine if the students have understood the content. As a nurse  educator in the academic setting for twenty years, I have been and  continue to be a mentor to novice educators, helping them navigate the  leadership process and assisting others in improving their instructional  practices. One thing about nurses is that we know how to utilize  technology in the clinical setting, but when it comes to new technology  being developed, we often fall behind. Our students are more advanced  than we are, as they have grown up with technology, while most of us  remember when the internet first became available. As a faculty, we take  professional development seriously and continue to strive to adapt as  technology evolves. We have high-tech equipment that simulates patient  care in various settings, including code situations and birthing babies.  Our new initiative is embracing AI and helping our students use it  effectively. It is not intended to complete their homework assignments,  but rather to supplement NCLEX-style application questions for their  exams.