School principals' have a significant impact on student achievement and positive educational outcomes (Beteille et al., 2012; Branch et al., 2013; Miller, 2009; Miller, 2013; Supovitz et al., 2010). There are concerns regarding the high turnover rate and shortage of applicants for school leadership positions currently within the United States…

The job of the school principal has become much more complex and demanding over the past several decades. Many university-based principal preparation programs -- which prepare the majority of school principals -- have struggled with how to make the fundamental changes needed to prepare principals for today's schools. This report shares lessons…

This report in brief shares findings from the RAND Corporation's five-year study of The Wallace Foundation's University Principal Preparation Initiative (UPPI). The job of the school principal has become much more complex and demanding over the past several decades. Many university-based principal preparation programs (PPPs)--which prepare the…

Talented leaders are essential to building and sustaining successful organizations. This is especially true for schools, where principal leadership plays a major role in fostering student success. Research shows that principals are a significant school-level factor affecting student achievement, second only to classroom teachers. Like other types…

The work principals do has always mattered, but as the demands of the job increase, it matters even more. Perhaps once they could maintain safety and order and call it a day, but no longer. Successful principals today must also lead instruction and nurture a productive learning community for students, teachers, and staff. They set the tone for the…

At one time, finding an assistant principal for a public school in Denver entailed a search through "a gajillion résumés," in the words of one local school district administrator. Even then, some ideal candidates likely fell through the cracks. Those days are over, owing to the development by Denver Public Schools of a "leader…

States and districts are embarking on efforts to improve school leadership as a lever to promote school improvement. Such efforts have a solid base of research attesting to their effectiveness, and some view them as particularly cost-effective because principals "can be powerful multipliers of effective teaching and leadership practices in…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the connections between principal succession and professional learning through the analysis of the current practices in leader development, support, and retention in two Georgia state school districts. The findings of the cross-case analysis were summarized in five major themes: First, a key…

Research across the decades has confirmed that effective school leadership is associated with better outcomes for students and schools. A high-quality school leader affects dozens of teachers and hundreds or thousands of students. It is a pivotal role. From 2011 to 2016, The Wallace Foundation, through its Principal Pipeline Initiative (PPI),…

School leadership is second only to teaching among school influences on student success, according to research. So what can a school district do to produce a large and steady supply of top-notch school principals--and support their effective supervision? This Wallace Update describes two related Wallace Foundation initiatives seeking answers to…

School district officials have faced the urgent task in recent years of ensuring that all schools, not just a lucky few, benefit from sure-footed leadership by professionals who know how to focus on instruction and improve it. The question boils down to this: How can districts develop a pipeline of great school principals? Research about a Wallace…

This is the fourth report from an evaluation of the Principal Pipeline Initiative (PPI). This report addresses the implementation of principal evaluation and related support as of 2015, viewing implementation in the context of districts' aims, constraints, and capacity. Principal evaluation is part of the Wallace Principal Pipeline Initiative…

School district officials have faced the urgent task in recent years of ensuring that all schools, not just a lucky few, benefit from sure-footed leadership by professionals who know how to focus on instruction and improve it. The question boils down to this: How can districts develop a pipeline of great school principals? Research about a Wallace…

This is the fifth report from an evaluation of the Principal Pipeline Initiative (PPI), in which six large urban school districts have received support for strengthening novice principals' capabilities through specific strategies. Data for the evaluation were collected from late 2011 through spring 2015, using interviews with district…

The third in a series of reports evaluating a multi-year Wallace initiative documents ways in which six districts are working to improve school leadership districtwide. It describes several new measures districts are implementing, including systematic support for assistant principals; the use of performance standards to hire and evaluate…