Principals are understood to be critical actors in improving teaching and learning conditions in schools; however, relatively little is known about the leadership strategies to which principals should dedicate their time and effort to improve outcomes. We review the empirical literature from 51 studies of principal behaviors and student, teacher,…

A collective case study methodology is used to explore how high school turnaround principals leveraged the professional development of teachers to raise student achievement. The study also sought to capture the characteristics of the professional development programs principals implemented. Interview data were collected from five turnaround…

Research conducted to date provides a limited understanding of the landscape of school-based screening practices across academic, behavioral, and health domains, thus providing impetus for the current survey study. A total of 475 K-12 school building administrators representing 409 unique school districts across the United States completed an…

A recent research report from the International Literacy Association (ILA, 2015) discussed the current challenges facing today's educators, noting the increasing diversity of students' backgrounds and needs, coupled with the higher expectations and standards being widely adopted to prepare students for 21st-century skills. The ILA (2015) document…

The purpose of this study was to examine administrators' use of data, their perceptions of data, and what their expectations were in terms of teacher use of data. In conjunction with this examination will be a closer look at the new Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL) to determine the connections as well as the disconnections to…

This case is designed to highlight issues related to data inquiry in education, the role of leaders (specifically building-level administrators) in setting conditions for effective data conversations on teams, and the challenge of developing and deepening data use in a school over time. It was created based on interviews with a real elementary…

In a learning system, central office personnel assume collective responsibility for schools and go about their work very differently. They are responsible not only for departments and programs, but also for student learning. They demonstrate that responsibility by engaging in data informed conversations about student achievement. Central office…

Enacting a vision and surviving as a first-year high school principal in a new suburban school district can be a complex and difficult journey. Secondary-level principals have varied roles, including the improvement of teachers' practice and student achievement, branding (or rebranding) the school, and acting as community leaders. This…

This qualitative study considers which aspects of school climate support or inhibit student achievement as each aspect relates to school leadership and school reform efforts. Due to the increased responsibility and accountability which schools face during these challenging times, school climate and the role of the school principal formed the basis…

The purpose of this study is to examine if school principals' roles and responsibilities in China, Ghana, Hungary, Turkey, Poland and the United States are significantly different from one another. This study adopts a survey design which provides a quantitative or qualitative description of trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by…

Many factors can influence a teacher's self-efficacy beliefs, including the support of his or her administrators--the principal and assistant principal. This interpretive phenomenological study sought to describe the influence that administrator support had on teacher self-efficacy. The conceptual framework of this study was Bandura's (1986)…

As the achievement gap widens, it is even more critical than ever to examine factors that may influence the closing of that chasm. Principal leadership is one such component that needs further study. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine which leadership styles principals employ in traditional public schools in the State of New…

This study examined the performance of superintendents and leaders of the Arab education system in Israel in reducing achievement gaps and promoting curricula that empower and advance students. In-depth interviews were conducted with school governance officials in an attempt to address these key issues: (1) The steps administrators in the Arab…

The purpose of this article is twofold, firstly, it aims to contribute to the literature of school leadership and practices from the unexplored, low-income country, Nepal and secondly, to deliberate how these practices are uniquely and situationally enacted within their context. A qualitative approach was used to carry out the study in three…

The authors review the current school principal leadership development program in Hong Kong and analyze the challenges and opportunities based on existing scholarly work in the field. Based on the previous analysis from the literature, five areas in current principal leadership development are identified as key dimensions which need further…