Year coordinators as middle-leaders in independent girls' schools: their role and accountability

In Australian secondary schools year coordinators (also known as year advisors) are considered part of middle leadership. They have played a significant role in schools for many years. However, there is a dearth of empirical research on the work of year coordinators with much of the research on middle leadership focused on subject coordinators and their equivalents. As a result, there is no up-to-date research on what they do and how effective they are in schools. This article presents research conducted in three independent girls' schools. The aim of the investigation was to investigate the role of year coordinators from three schools as well as discuss how their roles might be monitored to ensure the work is aligned to school strategic goals and optimise service to students.