What Successful Principals Do And What Unsuccessful Ones Fail

As with the importance of selecting a highly qualified principal to help raise test scores and closing achievement gaps, the selection and support of staff is also critical. Gregory F. Branch, Eric A. Hanushek, and Steven G. Rivkin’s 2013 study “School Leaders Matter” examined the effectiveness of many principles’ leadership and the effect they had on student achievement ratings. “A primary channel through which principals can be expected to improve the quality of education is by raising the quality of teachers, either by improving the instruction provided by existing teachers or through teacher transitions that improve the caliber of the school’s workforce” (Branch, pg.4). A principal must be able to continually seek out professional development, to research best practices and new educational theories to support their staff and students. If principals are to close the achievement gap, they must be willing to inform and instruct their staff on new teaching strategies. Mr. Canada, from his TED talk, “Our failing schools. Enough is enough!”, states: “You go into a place that has failed kids for fifty years and say: ‘so what’s the plan?’ And they say: ‘Well, we are going to do what we did last year, this year’. What kind of business model is that?” (TED, 2013). The principal willing to venture into new, uncharted waters may succeed or fail, but at least they

In this chapter, Fullan begins by maintaining that principals who are effective lead learners are necessarily also good managers, because they understand that having clear routines is essential for school improvement.” (57) He quotes from Viviane Robinson’s Student-Centered Leadership to both underscore the previous point and emphasize that successful principals take an active learning stance: “The principal who makes the biggest impact on learning is the one who attends to other matters as well, but, most important, ‘participates as a learner’ with teachers in helping move the school forward.” (58) Fullan also borrows from Helen Timperley’s work in responding to the question, Who is in a principal’s class? The principal’s class consists of “team leaders who in turn can leverage the learning of other teachers in their group”

The importance of effective leadership and its impact on improving student achievement are evident in today’s schools (Leithwood, Louis, Anderson, and Wahlstrom, 2004). While the school principal is traditionally thought to be the school leader, Glickman (1989) proposes that “the principal of successful schools is not the instructional leader but the educational leader who mobilizes the expertise, talent, and care of others” (p. 8). Lumpkin, Claxton, and Wilson (2014) contend that helping “each school fulfill its mission and energize and expand the professionalism and professional contributions of teachers, the expertise of all teachers, especially teacher leaders, is needed” (p. 59). Teachers directly impact student learning, and

According to former Indiana state superintendent of schools Dr. Suellen Reed, “We know from our research that there’s no turnaround school without a turnaround principal” (as cited in Gammil, 2007, para. 2), further supporting the fact that “school leaders have an essential role in cultivating a positive school culture in public schools” (Peterson and Deal, 2002, p.30). However, it is imperative to improve our understanding as to how principal leadership impacts the school culture in high poverty schools to ensure that all children receive a quality education, regardless of zip code, in an environment conducive to learning. The six measured factors are as follows:

“Leaders don 't create followers, they create more leaders,” Tom Peter famously proclaimed. As the principal of Crestview Elementary, I have always taken this quote to heart by continuous striving to empower my faculty and staff. Most recently, I have decided to train my assistant principal, Kathy Robinson, who was appointed to her position this summer after ten years as a classroom teacher. I quickly recognized that she possessed many of the qualities that make great leaders. Kathy is an excellent communicator, a great problem solver, innovative, very personable, and cares about the students and staff (Sheninger, 2011). Therefore, I have decided to mentor her and hone her skills so that she will be prepared for a transition to the role of principal.

The second quality of an effective leader is to have a vision. The vision should also include the schools missions, purpose and goals. The principal should be progressive and constantly looking for ways to keep the staff and students motivated to work towards a common goal. As an effective leader you must continuously promote the vision. This could be done with a school created slogan that fits the community. Most people want to belong and feel a part of something successful or on the path to greatness. It is a wonderful feeling to be a member of a successful school community where people really

In the book, The Moral Imperative of School Leadership, the author, Michael Fullan, discusses how a school ran with moral imperative will benefit everyone involved. Fullan summarizes how principals who share the leadership role and work collectively with others find success. He lays out the ways to change the context of your campus, defines some barriers of school leadership, and how to make a difference at the individual level and at the school level. He also discusses how to make a difference beyond your campus, expanding to regionally and society. Lastly he demonstrates how a new direction and new context require the individual and system to work together towards successfully changing the culture of your campus.

The watching of the videos “The Principal Story” and “North Grand” in combination with reading the textbook “Leading in a Culture of Change” by Michael Fullan and our class discussions have provided me with many insights about my future as a high school principal. I have served as a mathematics teacher for almost twenty-three years and have served in many leadership roles throughout my career, however my participation in this course has verified that, although I have a strong foundation of knowledge, I still have much to learn about leading a school. I am coming to understand the position of principal is a monumental task and should be entered with into with much thought. Holding this role as principal requires that I use this position to

This study seeks to examine a principal leadership style and its effects on teacher job

The documentary “The Principal Story” focuses on the leadership qualities and behaviors of two principals as they navigate through a single academic year. Although the demographics of the schools may at first appear to be vastly dissimilar, upon closer review of the clientele served by each school, the only stark contrast is the race of the students. Both schools are located in impoverished communities and both principals face similar challenges as they lead their schools in striving for both academic and social success.

Principals are catalyst of change and to be on board supporting the state’s effort to implement the new Common core state standards matters in helping teachers become better educators than they were yesterday. It maybe challenging not to think about accountabilities, technicalities and funding because your goal is to keep a school performing and students feeling successful. You are going to initiate change, because your leadership behaviors are significantly related to teachers’ efficacy (Protheroe, 2008). Be the leader that ensures open and meaningful dialogue with the teachers in your school and provide unwavering support to them. You may not closely work with students anymore, but the duty appointed to you is indirectly affects students. Your passion radiated to teachers’ passion will translate into students’ love for learning which emerges as an important component in successful implementation of the standards (August, Artzi & Barr, 2016).

From the interviews conducted it was revealed that the principal plays an integral role in the academic success in students as he or she sets the tone in the school which

According to the author in the introduction of the book, this work was basically intended to serve as a guide for developing moral leadership in schools geared toward superintendents, supervisors, principals, and any other persons at the upper levels of school management. The author's design was to provoke thoughts and raise questions in the minds of these people to help them analyze the leadership processes in their schools and help them make adjustments to the leadership process that will in the end reduce the need for "direct" leadership in favor of "moral" leadership. He

As a perspective principal, there is a wealth of knowledge to gain from abiding by the guidelines of domain III, which pertains to administrative leadership. Although I was somewhat oblivious to the intricacies of this position, I was eager to develop new perspective in this area of expertise. The amount of coordination it takes for an influential leader to operate a school is fascinating. I am more equipped with a realistic approach to encourage positive change.

According to the authors of this article (Donaldson, Marnik, Mackenzie, & Ackerman, 2009), principals need to concentrate on the development of skills and behaviors in order to be successful in motivating, leading, and changing the direction of a school. The successful principal understands that there exists a fine balance of caring for others and the need to accomplish specific tasks (Donaldson, Marnik, Mackenzie, & Ackerman, 2009).