Leading School Improvement ― A Framework for Action

In Leading School Improvement: A Framework for Action, author Joseph Murphy pulls together 14 practitioner-based articles to present a cohesive narrative about the unique and critical role that leadership plays in school improvement. Murphy clearly identifies key factors that shape the future of any school and explains the work that leaders must do to ramp up academic press and foster a supportive culture for school improvement. He goes on to unpack the concept of leadership practice, focusing on the importance of personal characteristics and virtues, such as persistence, passion, courage, and integrity, for creating a truly powerful learning environment.

Joseph Murphy is the Frank W. Mayborn Chair of Education and Associate Dean at Peabody College of Education of Vanderbilt University. He has also been a faculty member at the University of Illinois and The Ohio State University, where he was the William Ray Flesher Professor of Education.In the public schools, he has served as an administrator at the school, district, and state levels. His most recent appointment was as the founding President of the Ohio Principals Leadership Academy. At the university level, he has served as Department Chair and Associate Dean.He is a past Vice President of AERA and an AERA Fellow. He was the founding Chair of the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC). He co-chaired the work that produced the revisions to the ISLLC Standards in 2008 and 2015.His work is in the area of school improvement, with special emphasis on leadership and policy.Murphy is the co-editor of the AERA Handbook of Research on Education Administration (1999), editor of the National Society for the Study of Education (NSSE) yearbook The Educational Leadership Challenge (2002), and co-editor of the UCEA Handbook of Research on the Education of School Leaders (2009).He has also published 22 books on school improvement and leadership and edited another 12 books. His most recent authored volumes include: The Educator's Handbook for Understanding and Closing Achievement Gaps (2010), Homelessness Comes to School (2011), Essential Lessons for Leaders (2011), Staying Home: Homeschooling in America (2012), and The Architecture of School Improvement (2013).