To be approachable and visible may be one of the greatest lessons a retired middle level principal ever learned. Being approachable is an expectation of the principalship. Keeping the office door shut or restricting or limiting talk time with students, teachers, or parents sends a strong message to those constituents: "I've got more important…

In this article, a principal demonstrates a high level of caring by visiting at-risk students in their homes each summer. As the principal of a relatively small, middle class community's only middle level school, the author has the opportunity and responsibility to connect with many students and their respective families--and indirectly, with many…

Although there are a million reasons why some schools do not work, there is one thing that Breakthrough High Schools (BTHS) have in common: a principal who has a focused vision that is based on the needs of his or her school and district and an ability to rally the troops and move the school away from the herd. The principal's ability to carefully…

How important is a high-quality curriculum? A school without a quality curriculum is like a car without an engine--neither goes anywhere. One responsibility of a school administrator is to ensure that quality curriculum is designed, adopted, and implemented. The No Child Left Behind act (NCLB) has focused the attention of an entire nation on the…

Mathematical literacy is more than numeracy; it is an individual's capacity to identify and understand the role that mathematics plays in the world and to make well-founded judgments that use and engage mathematics to meet his or her future needs as a constructive, concerned, and reflective citizen (Programme for International Student Assessment…

There was a time in U.S. education when good management might have sufficed. If administrators balanced the budgets, hired adequate staff, and purchased the established instructional curricula, they did enough. However, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) changed that dramatically. Today, districts are accountable for the academic proficiency of…

Numeracy develops and evolves through experiences that require students to creatively and flexibly use mathematics to solve complex problems that often involve competing constraints. Making room in the curriculum for these types of experiences is a challenge in secondary schools because of the pressures of a tightly packed mathematics curriculum;…

This article discusses walk-throughs as a valuable source of instructional data for teachers and administrators. Data gathering and analysis can be a dynamic and exciting process when walk-throughs are incorporated into a school's improvement plan as an instructional snapshot. At Norris High School in Firth, Nebraska, the principal uses…

During the last two decades, the number of K-12 school partnerships with businesses, communities, and universities has expanded rapidly. Schools have established successful collaborative partnerships with private enterprises to provide technology to families (Cirone, 2001), with universities to develop new teachers (Fisher, Frey, & Williams,…

After 41 years of a varied and exciting career in Miami-Dade County (Florida) Public Schools, the author recently retired as a middle level principal. Although he also served as a teacher and a counselor, more than half of his career was spent as an administrator in more than a dozen schools. As he reflects on his role as a school leader and…

Erin Rogers is on a mission to change teachers' minds. As a literacy coach at Skyview High School in Vancouver, Washington, she advises other teachers on how to infuse literacy into lessons across the curriculum. It's not an easy job: many secondary school instructors see themselves as content experts and believe that teaching reading is best left…

In this article, a principal is inspired to change the conversations with students and staff members from discipline and deficit to hope and planning for future achievement. He wants conversations to be more about academic goals and decision making and less about discipline and random acceptance of postsecondary plans. He has asked all staff…

As every school administrator knows, the IEP is an integral part of meeting the needs of students with disabilities (Wright & Wright, 1999). It is the primary device through which communication takes place among parents, students, administrators, teachers, and other related service personnel regarding how the school plans to meet the requirements…

Students are an untapped source of creative ideas for improving their schools, and they can offer recommendations for how to improve instruction and restructure the school to increase the level of student interest and participation. Listening to students requires adults and students to take risks. Additional challenges involve a shortage of time,…

School counselors need the assistance of principals and other administrators to improve guidance and school counseling services in schools. Principals and other administrators are the leaders in education, and it is important that they know how to create the best school counseling programs possible. This article provides 12 suggestions that can…