Stanford University researcher Eric Hanushek recently concluded “Principals Matter”. Not surprisingly Hanushek concluded that effective principals have an impact and make a difference in the lives of their students and the effectiveness of their schools.
In their book “Getting it Done”, authors Karin Chenoweth and Christina Theokas set about examining the practices and beliefs of 33 high performing principals to identify the common elements. The book describes in clear and helpful detail what leaders of successful high-poverty and high-minority schools in the United States have done to promote and sustain student achievement. They found the high performing principals…
- Are good at hiring and keeping strong teachers.
- Structure the work in such a way that ordinary teachers can improve their practice and be successful.
- Establish a climate and culture that encourages teachers to try new things, but ensure that those practices that aren’t successful in improving student achievement are not continued.
- Set up systems that allow teachers to focus on the work of instruction instead of having to invent new solutions to every single problem that crops up.
- Most importantly they establish the expectation that all children will be successful and then engage all the adults in a school to be part of solving the problems that could thwart such an expectation from being realised.