Anecdotal evidence points to the importance of school principals, but the limited existing research has neither provided consistent results nor indicated any set of essential characteristics of effective principals. This paper exploits extensive student-level panel data across six states to investigate both variations in principal performance and…

Schools are dynamic environments surrounded by static brick and mortar. Schools are a complex entanglement of systems clinging to normalcy led and composed of individuals seeking growth and progress. There is constant turnover as students move through the systems, gaining mastery, seeking support, and receiving guidance. Employees similarly move…

In 2020-2021, evaluation focused on continuing to monitor and assess the HireVue and assessment center processes in relation to AP and principal hiring practices. To help ensure that the hiring processes were operating as designed, survey feedback AP and principal candidates provided perceptions of the hiring process. Passthrough rates also…

School administrators face a plenitude of issues throughout the course of a career, many of which necessitate some working knowledge of school law. Administrators are not lawyers, after all, and do not possess anywhere near their level of expertise. Parental and community concerns are often a source of frustration and make for problematic…

This paper explores Illinois's shift from a general administrative license, called a "Type 75" license, to a "PK-12 Principal Endorsement." It includes both a history of the reform efforts and a look at how implementation has fared nearly a decade after the legislation was signed into law. It also offers lessons and…

Principals are tasked with being the instructional leaders in their schools--developing teacher's abilities through formal and informal classroom observations and feedback. But how can school districts ensure that principals have the skills they need to fulfill this crucial role? In Clarke County School District in Georgia, central-office leaders…

Recognising excellence in education as a national priority, the Australian Government established the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools (the Review) in July 2017. Supported by an independent panel of experts drawn from different states, school systems and sector, the Review Panel examined ways that Australia could…

In the era of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), there has been heightened attention on the role that effective school and district leaders play in a wide range of issues, including school improvement, quality classroom instruction and broader discussions of equity. In 2017, Education Commission of the States reviewed legislation related to…

To effectively teach reading to students with and at risk for disabilities, special and general education teachers depend on principals who support effective specialized reading instruction. Yet, extant research indicates that principals have inadequate preparation for supporting specialized instruction. To address this issue, scholars have…

The article examines the professional development of secondary school principals in Nigeria. Drawing from vast review of literature on professional development and appointment of school principals in other countries, the article canvasses the position that secondary schools in Nigeria should be administered by skilled personnel who have the…

The critical exploration of policy development processes employed to construct leadership qualifications is the focus of this inquiry. This exploration is made through specific application of the necessary conditions of Habermasian "practical discourse" to current dialogic procedures used to develop policies for principal, supervisory…

The Israeli Ministry of Education has recently initiated a program of reform in the training of public school principals that aims to expand state licensing regulations for educational leaders. This article suggests that the principals' training and licensing (PTL) reform should be linked to the attempt by Israeli policy makers to institutionalize…

Accounting for a quarter of a school's impact on student achievement, principals are the leverage point for education reform and the primary drivers of school improvement. School leaders have a greater influence on all students than teachers, and are the best long-term investment in effective teaching at scale. The current system of principal…

Since the fall of 2012, Illinois principal preparation programs have been operating under new state requirements intended to produce highly qualified and effective school principals capable of leading Illinois schools to higher levels of student academic performance. The rules guiding new program development are applied with a broad stroke,…

Systems thinking (ST) is an approach advocating thinking about any given issue as a whole, emphasising the interrelationships between its components rather than the components themselves. This article aims to link ST and school leadership, claiming that ST may enable school principals to develop highly performing schools that can cope successfully…