Towards a theory of leadership practice: a distributed perspective

James P. Spillane is an associate professor of education and social policy and a Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, 2115 North Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208–2615, USA; e-mail: [email protected]. His research explores the policy-implementation process at the state, school district, school, and classroom levels, focusing on inter-governmental relations and policy-practice relations. His recent publications can be found in the American Educational Research Journal, Cognition and Instruction, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Educational Researcher, Journal of Curriculum Studies, Teachers College Record, Educational Policy, Journal of Educational Policy, and the Journal of Research in Science Teaching. Richard R. Halverson is an assistant professor in educational administration at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His work aims to bring the research methods and practices of the learning sciences to the world of educational leadership. His research interests are focused on accessing, understanding, documenting, and communicating the expertise of instructional leadership in schools. John B. Diamond is an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. His interests include the sociology of education, school and community relations, race and class stratification, African-American and Latino/a student achievement, and leadership and organizational change. Towards a theory of leadership practice: a distributed perspective