The purpose of this case study was to explore the context and key features of a successful decade-long district and university principal preparation program. Despite the importance of such partnerships, long-standing partnerships appear to be far from the norm. The partnership was designed in collaboration with faculty at a flagship university in…

State policymakers, including state leaders, districts, and professional associations, play a role in fostering an environment that supports the development of effective school principals, with the broad policy objective of achieving high principal quality across the state. This report examines how seven states use state policy levers to advance…

States play a role in fostering an environment that develops and supports effective school leaders. Prior research has highlighted opportunities to enhance state involvement in supporting school leadership through a range of policy levers, especially by promoting improvements to principal preparation (Manna, 2015; Davis, 2016). The Wallace…

One of the education programs for principals in Indonesia is online continuing professional development or CPD. This research aims to understand the participant's perceptions of the effectiveness of online CPD for principals. This study applies the CIPP evaluation. The respondents were 69 principals of primary and secondary schools in Central…

In 2014, the Springfield Public School district in Massachusetts had tried just about every strategy in the turnaround playbook to improve a set of struggling middle schools, but these efforts failed to generate the desired improvement. In 2015, drawing inspiration from national efforts to infuse schools with enhanced autonomy and accountability,…

Helping principals improve their leadership practices is a common use of federal funds and one way to improve instruction and student achievement. This study sought to better understand the effectiveness of an intensive principal professional development program focused primarily on helping principals conduct structured observations of teachers'…

Developing excellent principals who can set direction, develop people, redesign organizations, and lead instruction requires a system of high-quality preparation and professional development. This paper summarizes the elements of high-quality principal preparation and professional development programs that have been associated with positive school…

Teach for America (TFA) is a national organization with a long-established presence in Houston. The organization recruits recent college graduates and mid-career professionals who commit to teaching for two years in schools with high proportions of economically disadvantaged students (Teach for America, 2017). Since 1991, Houston Independent…

As teacher recruitment intensifies to locate qualified teachers for our nation's classrooms, alternative teacher certification programs are becoming prevalent. Initially these programs were designed to attract professionals and college graduates to enter urban classrooms. However, what has occurred is that over 140 alternative certification…

A nationwide shortage of qualified, experienced applicants to fill the roles of educational leaders has led to a hiring crisis among school districts across America. The diminishing pool of applicants, accompanied by a high turnover rate of practicing administrators and increasing accountability demands, has revealed the importance of recruitment…

There is growing awareness among educators and policymakers that effective school leaders are critical to school success and student achievement. Many studies illustrate the important benefits of effective school leadership for teachers, pointing to the significant influence on teacher satisfaction, development, and retention. This case study…

The Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) provides grants to support performance-based compensation systems for teachers and principals in high-need schools. The study measures the impact of pay-for-performance bonuses as part of a comprehensive compensation system within a large, multisite random assignment study design. The treatment schools were to…

The Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) provides grants to support performance-based compensation systems for teachers and principals in high-need schools. The study measures the impact of pay-for-performance bonuses as part of a comprehensive compensation system within a large, multisite random assignment study design. The treatment schools were to…

Ensuring equity in education and academic success for all students requires a highly skilled principal engages others in continually improving the instructional program in order to meet the needs of students. Over the past few years, a number of reports have indicated that the role of principal is becoming more challenging. School districts are…

The influence on youth of schools and communities--working independently or in partnership--raises important questions. How can schools and community groups work strategically to promote changes that meet youth needs? What form do existing interactions take? What benefits and challenges does the interaction pose for schools and their potential…