Principals as Literacy Leaders Project

Educational value

• This is a valuable resource for principals seeking to develop or enhance their literacy knowledge and leadership capability, particularly in leading literacy learning based on a deep understanding of how reading develops. A major emphasis of the strategy, both in its professional learning aspects and in the resulting school-based literacy programs, was on the 'Big Six' of best practice in the teaching of reading: oral language; phonemic awareness; letter/sound relationships; vocabulary development; fluency; and comprehension. The PALL strategy was founded on research identifying the crucial role of school leadership in students' literacy development.
• The resource is particularly valuable in relation to three of the five professional practices described in the Australian Professional Standard for Principals: Leading teaching and learning; Developing self and others; and Leading improvement, innovation and change. It describes how the strategy achieved substantial improvement in these professional practices by combining five one-day professional development workshops/modules, action research undertaken between each module that enabled principals to connect their learning with their community, and the ongoing support of a mentor for each principal.

Year level

F; 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7

Topics Educational research Teaching methods Socioeconomic status Reading Learning strategies Indigenous students Teacher professional learning Vocabularies Phonemes