WebThe authors examine how new principals adapt to the role, set an instructional agenda, and build cooperation and collaboration. FIGURE ES.1Gaps in Principal Representation for Black and Hispanic Students http://www.wallacefoundation.org/principalsynthesis. Please enable scripts and reload this page. The job of a school Principal can sometimes be a lonely place amid the enormous responsibility and accountability to a schools community. Having that support is very important. Brendan Bartanen and Matthew Kraft also provided helpful feedback and advice on specific components of the report. Available at The recent wave of education reform initiatives has resulted in new principal evaluation legislation in the past few years. While I have to admit that these preposterous characterizations are often hilarious, they perpetuate a damaging stereotype that school administrators are ruthless disciplinarians who are out of touch with students. With the social-emotional aspects of learning how to communicate, share, and play with other children, its been tough figuring out what works and what doesnt work. http://www.wallacefoundation.org/principalsynthesis.. The School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is committed to realizing the transformative power of education, and in turn is redefining what it means to educate. Given that principals' efforts affect all the students in a school, their influence is consequential. 4. In addition to our highly motivated, high-end achievers, I also invite our disenfranchised and marginalized students to lunch. Role of the Principal in Schools The six studies also used new statistical methods that enable researchers to make causal inferences to evaluate the magnitude of principals effectiveness. When I see a student struggling, I invite him or her to my office. In contrast, few can even recall the name of their school principals. Instead of dreading the visit, students now come to my office to engage in school and with me in a positive way. And they focus on what matters: leading instruction, shaping a positive school climate, developing people, and meeting the needs of all learners. A key differentiator between strong and weak hiring practices that researchers have identified is principals access to and engagement with data about their teacher applicants. importance Moreover, we find that supervisor and teacher ratings of the effectiveness of principals practices can predict student achievement growth and other outcomes. The Utility of Teacher and Student Surveys in Principal Evaluations: An Empirical Investigation (Report), What Districts Knowand Need to KnowAbout Their Principals (Brief), Early Implementation Findings From a Study of Teacher and Principal Performance Measurement and Feedback: Year 1 Report, Following the Leaders: An Analysis of Graduate Effectiveness from Five Principal Preparation Programs, A Framework for Principal Talent Management, Measuring School Climate for Gauging Principal Performance. The conclusions about student achievement are based in part on six studies that rely on longitudinal data that allow researchers to track over time the impact of a given principal as he or she moves to different schools and the impact of different principals on the same school. Once a new principal is on board, districts can improve the chances of success by providing resources such as mentoring, coaching, and principal support networks. Of course, this comparison of principal impacts to teacher impacts is not an apples-to-apples one because principals effects on students come largely through their effects on teachers, including how principals hire, retain, develop, and encourage teachers and create appropriate conditions for teaching and learning. The findings of this new review, We ask three main questions. Evaluations can be designed and carried out to support principals in their efforts to improve student learning. A caveat to this conclusion is that it is based on just six studies, conducted in just a few states and districts, which may not be representative. We must do everything to benefit studentsto make sure our kids are safe, learning, and loved. Some are more successful at retaining teachers, including more effective teachers. This arrangement allows me ample opportunity to build relationships with students while advising them on their student initiatives. Principals A strong school climate is one that allows everyone in the school to spend their time engaging in or supporting effective teaching and learning. The board found this odd. He holds the vision that pushes the school, and your child, forward. Sometimes that student wants to talk about what is going on, and sometimes that student just wants a quiet place to get away from the school drama. These metrics most often are a rubric-based measure of practice (e.g., classroom observations for teachers, leadership practice ratings for principals) and a measure derived from the achievement of the students the educator serves, such as a test score growth measure. They are responsible for providing effective leadership, managing resources, maintaining discipline, and creating a positive learning environment for students and staff. Identifying these practices and skills was important, as they allow us to not only better specify the For example, studies show that some principals are more effective than others at reducing absenteeism and chronic absenteeism. After further assessment of the methods, appropriateness of conclusions to those methods, and relevance from this coding, we ultimately synthesized 219 studies. Principals influence student achievement through their influence on classroom instruction, organizational conditions, community support, and setting the teaching and learning conditions in schools. The study updates a landmark 2004 literature review that determined the leadership of a school was second only to classroom instruction as the most important school-related factor affecting student learning. Districts that adopt policies, practices, and resource priorities that enable and encourage principals' leadership, and schools with positive climates are necessary for principals' success. WebPrincipal Skills and Behaviors to Improve School Outcomes. In this way, one good principal can affect dozens of teachers and hundredseven thousandsof students. Elementary schools allotting grade-level teams common planning time saw higher achievement growth, particularly in reading. Schools How do school leaders put those skills to work? COLLINS: How do you use that approach with teachers? Principals of color appear especially likely to have positive impacts on students and teachers of color, according to the report, yet the racial and ethnic gaps between school leaders and the students they serve are stark. What Does a Principal Do Our report benefited greatly from thoughtful, probing feedback from five external reviewers: Elaine Allensworth, Sonya Douglass Horsford, David Liebowitz, Sara Morrison, and Jessica Rigby. Our inquiry and practice reflect integrity, a commitment to social justice and the value of diversity in a global community. Inside the Principals Office School climates featuring an academic emphasis have shown to be positively associated with students academic performance. This suggests that, rather than thinking in terms of either/or, we need a balance of investments in developing great principals and great teachers. I strive to be a principal who is in the forefront with teachersits about collaboration. In recent years, districts and states have been focusing a lot of time and money on efforts to improve teacher quality, and rightly so. They focus on the problems that define the principalshipthe inevitable, complicated conflicts which often arise from a clash of worthwhile values that resist simple solutions. We especially appreciated the input of Elizabeth Ty Wilde, Pam Mendels, Lucas Held, and Andy Cole. Things pop up, and youre not able to get there. School Principal The evidence also argues for continued reorientation of the work of school principals toward educational equity and for school districts to prioritize the needs of increasingly diverse student backgrounds, both in hiring and retaining effective leaders for high-need schools and in ensuring that leaders from diverse backgrounds have equitable access to principal roles. Sometimes another teacher says, Hey, thats such a cool lesson. Lastly, we highlight broad concerns about the state of research on school principals. grey literature. A good principal hires the most effective new teachers, establishes high expectations for all teachers, and provides them with feedback and support so they can continue to improve. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis. Please reach us atPrincipalsOffice@schoolrubric.comwith any questions orcomplete this formwith any topic suggestions or requests. Applying criteria to screen for relevance and rigor, we winnowed this set to 395 studies employing quantitative and qualitative methods, which we full-text coded. Most importantly, though, principals influence the quality of instruction in every classroom, by hiring, monitoring, evaluating, and supporting teachers. How Principals Affect Students and Schools: A Systematic Synthesis of Two Decades of Researchdraws on 219 high-quality research studies of K-12 school leadership conducted since 2000 and updates the landmark 2004 literature review by Kenneth Leithwood, et al., that concluded that principals are second only to classroom instruction among school-related factors affecting student achievement. The job of a school Principal can sometimes be a lonely place amid the enormous responsibility and accountability to a schools community. She passed away a few months ago. COLLINS: Turning now to students, how do social and emotional learning challenges manifest at your school? webinar hosted by Wallace President Will Miller and attended by more than 1,450 people. The new review confirms the importance of school principals, but adds that principals impact on student learning may be even greater than previously thought. has received more attention as an essential ingredient in efforts to improve schools and student learning. How Principals Affect Students and Schools: A Systematic Synthesis of Two Decades of Research, are striking. High-performing schools devote resources to learning opportunities for teachers who focus on instruction and building teacher capacity. This report summarizes what researchers have learned about the connection between school leadership and student achievement and other outcomes in the United States since 2000, picking up roughly where Leithwood and coauthors (2004) left off in their influential Wallace Foundationcommissioned school leadership research review. For example, they can ensure that principals have access to professional learning opportunities by providing authentic, job-embedded professional learning through coaching, modeling best practices, and facilitating the development of learning communities of school leaders. As school leaders, principals influence student achievement in many ways: establishing a vision that motivates the entire community, building a school culture that supports student learning, ensuring resources are used effectively, and engaging with the community.
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