In this era of the Great Resignation, when nearly 40% of principals anticipate leaving their roles, districts need more resilient leaders who can meet the challenges ahead. The past two years--from the global pandemic to the national social justice movement--have created a vastly more complex and demanding environment for school leaders. The need…

The recent presidential election and an increase in anti-immigrant rhetoric and deportations foster greater uncertainty and fear in Mexican American immigrant communities. In the border city of El Paso, Texas, teachers and principals report how fear and uncertainty negatively impact their campuses, students, and school-family relationships. The…

Just as teachers' perceptions of instructional materials influence what they do with those materials, school leaders' perceptions of instructional materials influence their decisions about how and how strongly to support teachers' material use. The authors address a gap in existing literature by identifying what school leaders regard as key…

Roughly 30 years ago, American educators stood at a crossroads, with a decision to make about the future of education. With their ears ringing of warnings that they were facing a "rising tide of mediocrity" and recognizing unacceptable gaps in achievement between disadvantaged students and others, educators set off down a path of reform…

This brief outlines a series of proposals for using federal policy to bolster school leadership. The Elementary & Secondary Education Act (ESEA) should highlight the unique role that principals play by targeting funding within the law to build principals' capacity as instructional leaders, culture builders and talent managers. ESEA should also…

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…

During the past few years, more than 30 states have enacted legislation to change the way teachers are evaluated. The new laws require the annual evaluation of teachers; typically, multiple evaluations during the school year are required for new teachers. They also require the use of multiple measures to determine a teacher's effectiveness and tie…

This report presents selected findings from the Public School Principal Status and Private School Principal Status Data Files of the 2012-13 Principal Follow-up Survey (PFS). The PFS is a nationally representative sample survey of public and private K-12 schools in the 50 states and District of Columbia and was initiated to inform discussions and…

The role of the principal is rapidly changing. Once seen as building managers tasked with bus schedules and student discipline, principals now lead a range of school-level reform efforts. But not all principals are equipped to lead dramatic student achievement gains or know which actions to prioritize. Research on school leaders in urban areas…

During the 2010, 2011, and 2012 legislative sessions, a combination of federal policy incentives and newly elected governors and legislative majorities in many states following the 2010 elections sparked a wave of legislation addressing teacher effectiveness. More than 20 states passed legislation designed to address educator effectiveness by…

The vital role of principalship in improving schools in general and enhancing student achievement in particular has been well documented. Given its importance, there is a need for tools to improve principalship, particularly ones emphasizing those dimensions associated with student achievement. Given the accountability movement, with its…

This paper presents the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning at WestEd's 13th annual report on the status of the teaching profession in California, focusing on the role of the principal in supporting teaching quality. More specifically, the report discusses fiscal and policy trends, the competing demands of the principalship,…

In this brief guide, first published in 2009 and updated in March 2011 with new research, The Wallace Foundation highlights what it has learned about how to improve the academic and enrichment opportunities we provide for our children, both in and out of school. The research findings and other resources cited in this document offer…

Improving early literacy is essential to increasing high school graduation rates allowing students to be successful in postsecondary education and ensuring the prosperity of all Americans, according to a report released by the National Governors Association (NGA). "A Governor's Guide to Early Literacy: Getting all Students Reading by Third…

Principals are critical to the success of any school improvement effort--from increasing academic rigor toward college- and career-ready standards to teacher evaluation and support. They ensure this success by building a strong, shared vision and leading effective implementation for staff, students, and families. The federal government has an…