Leadership includes but cannot be limited to management skills. Only with a grounding in educational issues, systems, and the dynamics of change, can leaders make wise use of management strategies and talk cogently about what matters in education. The SDLP has a strong commitment to working assumptions which guide the curriculum and provide the conceptual framework for the program. Public schooling in a pluralistic, democratic society demands that a quality education be received by every student under the care of educators in schools. Educational leaders are morally obligated to ensure that the twin goals of equity and excellence are the number one priority of educators in their schools.
Educational leadership is the exercise of significant and responsible influence.
This includes but is not limited to the skills of management. Significant leadership requires the articulation, justification, and protection of the core set of educational values that underlie the purposes and functions of schools. Schools must be dynamic and renewing educational organizations. Educational leaders must nurture and sustain the processes of dialogue, decision-making, action, and evaluation that lead to the improvement of schools as places for teaching and learning. Educational leadership is crucial at all levels of schooling.