The Wallace Foundation recently released a report focusing on the potential for Assistant Principals to help foster educational equity, school improvement, and principal effectiveness. Recent years have seen a surge in the number of assistant principals and the percentage of schools with them, but despite its growing presence, the AP Read more
Effective principal leadership practices improve school organization, teaching, and student achievement outcomes. These practices include framing and communicating a school’s goals and mission, creating shared expectations of high performance, clarifying roles and objectives, and promoting professional development. However, research demonstrates that teachers tend to rate principals lower on important leadership Read more
A growing body of research points to the ways in which principals influence teachers, classrooms, and, ultimately, student achievement. A new study by RAND examines the New Leaders Aspiring Principals program. Aspiring Principals has three core features: selective recruitment and admission, training and endorsement, and support for principals early in Read more
Social-emotional learning, mental health, and student poverty are among the top student-related concerns of Pre-K through grade 8 principals, according to The Pre-K School Leader in 2018: A 10-Year Study. Since 1928, the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) has collected data on the climate, challenges, and conditions Read more
Research shows the positive impact of arts integration on students’ cognitive skills, engagement and attitudes about learning. How can states support educators and school leaders as they work to integrate the arts into core curricula? The Education Commission of the States has produced a new Preparing Educators and School Leaders Read more
School administrators serve as instructional leaders and set the tone for the culture of a school. The principal’s influence is pivotal. In Core Education’s May issue brief, we explore effective school leadership and recommendations for policy to improve the preparation, support, and evaluation of educational leaders. In addition, we review Read more
Writing for The 74, Beth Rabbitt reflects on the takeaways from the Learning Accelerator’s work with more than 100 leaders across eight regions nationally in the past year. Excerpts from the article appear below: Looking at patterns across each region, our biggest finding was this: ecosystems matter. Leaders can only Read more
Research shows school leadership is a pivotal factor in improving student achievement and retaining quality teachers. In fact, among school-related factors, leadership is found to have one of the greatest impacts on student learning — second only to classroom instruction. However, many districts are challenged by high rates of turnover, Read more
Of all in-school influences on student learning, leadership is second only to teaching quality. Indeed, when it comes to whole-system improvement, some argue that improving the quality of school leadership is a higher strategic priority than improving the quality of individual teachers, due to a principal’s influence across a school. Read more
The Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning at WestEd has produced a new CenterView, focused on teacher leaders as instructional leaders and how districts can enable successful teacher leadership to improve standards-aligned instructional practices. In the current landscape of rigorous standards implementation, teacher leadership is gaining increased attention Read more
A new report from the Center on School Turnaround presents promising practices for how to sustain the advances made in schools that have demonstrated rapid improvement. The practices presented are derived from a comprehensive review of relevant literature, and from the experience of five school principals who not only facilitated Read more
School administrators serve as instructional leaders and set the tone for the culture of a school. The principal’s influence is pivotal. In the March issue brief, Core Education explores effective school leadership and recommendations for policy to improve the training, support, and evaluation of educational leaders. To view the Read more
Recognizing that effective leadership is essential to most school improvement efforts, the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) enables states and districts to use certain major funding sources to help achieve their school improvement goals by supporting principals and other school leaders. Because those funding streams urge consideration of Read more
The Center on Great Teachers & Leaders at AIR has released a new toolkit and crosswalk, Aligning Leadership Standards to the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders. Many states are transitioning or considering a transition to the new Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL), developed by the Council of Chief State Read more
Whether the goal is to enhance instruction, create a culture of excellence, or broaden education options for parents, it’s nearly impossible to improve schools without strong leaders. This is hardly news; much evidence has indicated the importance of effective principals for decades. Yet reform strategies have largely lacked a coherent Read more
A significant challenge to school turnaround efforts is a lack of turnaround leaders available to work in these schools. Four education organizations —The Center on School Turnaround at WestEd, the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, Public Impact, and the University of Virginia Darden/Curry Partnership – have been studying issues Read more