ILA - Instructional Leadership Academy

Instructional leadership is the intentional work of educational leaders to improve teaching and learning so that every student has access to high-quality, equitable, and inclusive learning experiences and can achieve success.

Instructional leaders are knowledgeable about teaching, learning, assessment, and student needs, and use that knowledge to influence and strengthen practice. They translate knowledge into action by working alongside educators to examine evidence, support professional learning, improve instruction, lead collaborative inquiry and change, and create the conditions for continuous improvement.

Throughout the ILA, participants strengthen their capacity to:

• improve the effectiveness of instruction and assessment and student learning
• lead and sustain instructional change
• foster inclusive cultures of high expectations
• connect research and evidence with effective practice
• use evidence of student learning to inform improvement
• support professional learning and collaborative inquiry

At its core, instructional leadership is about closing the knowing-doing gap—connecting research, evidence, and sound theory with what happens in classrooms and schools.

Who is the ILA for? 

The ILA is designed for practising educational leaders who have opportunities to lead and support teaching and learning within their professional roles. Participants may include regional leaders, principals, vice-principals, department heads, consultants and coordinators, and coaches.

The ILA is a job-embedded program. Participants must be able to apply their learning within their professional context and engage in practicum experiences between classes. These experiences vary by course and may include classroom observations, professional conversations, coaching, inquiry, data collection and analysis, and other leadership applications.

The ILA Experience

ILA learning is collaborative, inquiry-based, practical, and connected directly to participants’ leadership contexts.

Participants progress through the three-year program as part of a provincial cohort, providing time to build strong professional relationships and develop a safe, trusted and supportive community of learners. Participants learn with and from educational leaders from across Nova Scotia, sharing diverse experiences, perspectives, leadership challenges, and practices throughout their ILA journey.

Learning takes place both in person and virtually. Courses are facilitated by knowledgeable, experienced educational leaders who bring current research, practical leadership experience, and an understanding of the Nova Scotia educational context to the learning.

Across the program, learning experiences include:

• inquiry-based coursework and case studies
• collaborative learning, professional dialogue, and networking
• classroom observations and instructional coaching
• reflection on leadership practice
• action research
• job-embedded practicum experiences
• application of new knowledge and skills within participants’ schools and workplaces

Participants are expected to engage actively in their learning and apply new knowledge, skills, and approaches within their own leadership contexts throughout the program.

Assessment & Demonstrating Learning

Assessment is embedded throughout the ILA to support participant learning, reflection, application, and leadership growth. Participants are expected to demonstrate not only what they know, but how they apply their learning within their professional practice.

Assessment includes reflection on coursework and practicum experiences, applied assignments and products, and other opportunities to demonstrate developing instructional leadership knowledge and competencies.

Across the six courses, participants develop a professional portfolio that captures their learning, reflection, application, and leadership growth. The program concludes with a culminating assessment following successful completion of Course 6.

Schedule & Commitment

The ILA consists of six courses completed over three years, with participants completing two courses each year. The fall course begins in September, and the winter course begins in January.

Courses include six class days scheduled approximately every second Saturday over a 12-week period. Learning is delivered through a hybrid model combining in-person and online classes in Brightspace, with classes moving progressively online throughout the program.

Each course includes 36 hours of class-based learning, along with 36 hours of job-embedded practical application and learning between classes. Practicum experiences vary by course and may include classroom observations, data collection and analysis, coaching, professional conversations, networking, and action research.

Course 3: Instructional Coaching begins with a required two-day virtual Coaching Institute in early August. This is followed by six full-day coaching workshops, held on school days from September through January rather than on Saturdays. Each workshop takes place in a different school, providing participants with school-based learning experiences across six different school settings.

Leadership Standards & Program Alignment

ILA learning is grounded in the program’s seven Instructional Leadership Standards:

• Vision for Instruction – developing and supporting a shared vision for teaching and learning
• Leading and Managing Change – leading instructional improvement and navigating change
• Collaborative Learning Cultures – building relationships, trust, and collaborative inquiry
• Professional Learning – supporting high-quality, job-embedded learning for educators
• High-Quality Instruction – strengthening curriculum, instruction, and assessment
• Understanding and Using Data to Improve Instruction – using evidence to inform instructional and school improvement
• Positive Learning Environments – fostering inclusive, equitable, safe, and supportive learning environments

Learning related to inclusion, equity, and diversity is embedded throughout the entire program.

All learning is aligned with the Nova Scotia Educational Leadership Standards (ELS).

Diploma, Teacher Certification & Fees

Successful completion of the ILA program leads to a Diploma in Instructional Leadership awarded by the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development.

The ILA also qualifies as an approved program for a teacher certification upgrade through the Nova Scotia Office of Teacher Certification. (DEECD)

Participants seeking a certification upgrade must apply for and receive program approval from the Office of Teacher Certification before beginning the ILA. Following successful completion of the program, participants are responsible to submit the required documentation to the Office of Teacher Certification to apply for the certification increase.

The program fee is $1,205 per course, for a total of $7,230 across the six-course program. Course fees are paid on a course-by-course basis, due at the beginning of each course.

Origins of the ILA

The Nova Scotia Instructional Leadership Academy (ILA) is a provincially developed program of the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, endorsed by the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (EECD).

ILA program planning and development began in 2009 through a provincial partnership that brought together school and system leaders, the Department, the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, post-secondary institutions, and other educational partners. The first cohort started in 2011. Its design was informed by research into effective instruction and instructional leadership in Nova Scotia, across Canada, and internationally. This work established the Instructional Leadership Standards that continue to provide a foundation for the program. 

With the introduction of Nova Scotia’s Educational Leadership Standards (ELS) in 2023, the ILA curriculum was reviewed and revised to integrate the ELS throughout the program while maintaining its distinctive focus on instructional leadership. 

Since 2011, over 600 educational leaders in Nova Scotia have graduated from the program earning a Diplomain Instructional Leadership! The program continues to welcome new cohorts every September!