Much has been written during the past decade about the changing role of the principal and the shift in emphasis from manager to instructional leader. Anyone in education, and especially principals themselves, could develop a mental list of responsibilities that fit within each of these realms. But research makes it clear that both those aspects of…

Almost always, teachers need help in one of two general categories. The first category relates to the ability to provide students with "meaningful work." Teachers who are in need of improvement in this area may struggle to design and implement effective, best-practice strategies that engage students. Teachers also often need help in another…

The importance of the principal's role in making a teacher's first year successful is documented in this Research Report, which examines the needs of new teachers and how they can be addressed. It discusses problems related to their inexperience and how principals can instill in them the confidence they often lack. (Contains 4 online resources.)

Principals need to get away from traditional beliefs that equate math success solely with rote knowledge of math facts and the ability to calculate. Today, math instruction also is being directed to student understanding of essential concepts. Principals must learn what to look for when they visit math classrooms to make sure it is being taught…

This book presents updated research on and examples of teacher leadership, offering practical tips for educators at all levels, tools for self-assessment, and a new vision of the future. The eight chapters are: (1) "What Is Teacher Leadership?" (e.g., definition of teacher leadership, roles for teacher leaders, and who is responsible); (2)…

A professor of education returns to the elementary classroom as a teacher's aide and learns that administrators can support teachers by (1) working to eliminate fragmentation in daily routines, (2) protecting teachers from overextension, (3) focusing more on individual students, (4) promoting teacher collegiality, and (5) fashioning a school…

Effective teacher evaluation is at the core of improving the quality and value of education and principals bear the responsibility of implementing a teacher evaluation program that helps develop highly qualified teachers and promotes high academic standards. In this easy-to-use handbook, the authors offer a fresh, innovative look into teacher…

These guidelines are derived from the five basic National Commission on Teaching and America's Future recommendations presented in "What Matters Most: Teaching and America's Future," a research-based proclamation that improving the quality of classroom instruction is the most important, direct, and cost-effective route to improving…

This document presents school principals' points of view on school and student improvement, using the real life experiences and practices of principals within Chicago's schools that have over the past few years shown the most improvement. Principals from 32 schools discussed their leadership style and strategies that contributed to school and…

Practices for improving adolescent literacy--which includes reading, writing, and speaking--are much discussed and debated among secondary school educators and researchers. At Discovery Middle School in Madison, Alabama, the debate has ended after teachers and administrators implemented several practices that elevated student achievement from…