1.5 Instructional Leadership Evaluation and Development Program (ILEAD)

Purpose

The ILEAD is a widely used tool developed for teachers in K-12 educational settings. It evaluates teacher perspectives in three key areas:

Instructional leadership behaviors

Job satisfaction and commitment

School culture or climate

The ILEAD tool helps schools measure and improve their leadership, teacher satisfaction, and overall climate. By using this tool, schools can create a better learning environment for both teachers and students. The results of the ILEAD instrument are typically used by:

School Administrators and Principals: To assess and improve their instructional leadership practices based on teacher feedback.

District Leaders and Educational Policymakers: To identify trends and areas for improvement across multiple schools, and to develop policies that enhance teacher satisfaction and school climate.

Educational Researchers: To analyze the relationships between leadership behaviors, job satisfaction, and school climate, and to contribute to the broader field of educational research.

Professional Development Coordinators: To tailor professional development programs that address specific needs identified through the instrument’s results.

Description

The ILEAD instrument was developed by Braskamp and Maehr in the mid-1980s. These researchers were associated with the Buros Center for Testing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a nonprofit organization specializing in educational assessment and research.

The instrument asks questions such as:

To what extent does your principal provide useful feedback on your teaching?

How satisfied are you with your current teaching position?

How would you rate the overall morale among teachers at your school?

Research by Braskamp and Maehr (1985, 1986) demonstrated the ILEAD’s strong psychometric properties. The instrument exhibits high internal consistency (alpha coefficients ranging from .88 to .93) and inter-rater reliability (mean correlation of .78). Additionally, the ILEAD has shown predictive validity, with studies finding a significant positive correlation between instructional leadership behaviors measured by the ILEAD and student achievement on standardized tests (Braskamp & Maehr, 1986). As developers of the instrument pointed out, one issue with the instrument is that it relies on teachers answering questions about themselves, so responses may be biased. Also, while the tool seems well-designed, more research is needed to see if it works equally well in different school settings.

Access

The ILEAD is not available for purchase directly from the original developer, MetriTech, Inc. However, it can be acquired through the Buros Center’s website (https://buros.org/). Pricing varies based on the number of users and the desired level of support offered by the Buros Center (Buros Center for Testing, n.d.).

References

Braskamp, L. A., & Maehr, M. L. (1985). Instructional Leadership Evaluation and Development Program (ILEAD). MetriTech, Inc.

Braskamp, L. A., & Maehr, M. L. (1986). The relationship between teacher perceptions of leadership and student achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 23(2), 211–222.

Maehr, M. L., Ames, R., & Braskamp, L. A. (1995). Instructional Leadership Evaluation and Development Program (ILEAD). MetriTech, Inc.