OTAN News

What Great Principals Really Do

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It’s difficult to quantify the impact of a principal on students, instructors, support staff and the entire school community. However, it is common sense that a leader can influence how often a student or teacher is absent or “how likely an instructor is to” work in that school another year. This linked research study transudes the impact of effective principals and “what makes them different.” Summarized below are a few key ideas.

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Instructionally Focused Interactions

The three-dimensional approach to improve instructional practice connects the close work principals do with teachers. First, is “leveraging teacher evaluations” which are rubric-based observations to improve teacher practice and achievement. The second is “feedback and coaching.” Strong principals give useful feedback which supports teachers and their work with students. Third, effective principals use data “to guide specific instructional decisions” and inspire action “around improvement and monitor the school progress toward its goals.”

Building a Productive School Climate

Research indicates a “robust school climate” improves instructional effectiveness and student growth. Principals contribute to climate by empowering teachers and students so they “feel safe, valued, and supported.” Effective principals “draw on their emotional and social intelligence” to support a climate of “trust, collaboration, engagement with data, and continuous improvement.” Supporting and affirming the local community’s culture, language, and traditions also contributes to a positive climate.

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Facilitating Collaboration

Collaboration between colleagues does not accidentally happen. Principals facilitate positive cooperation by committing to “common planning time for instructional teams” and setting up “high-functioning professional learning communities (PLCs).” This includes connecting teachers to “other learning opportunities” as well as leveraging the talents of others on site.

Strategic Management

According to the research the biggest resource for schools is its people. “The evidence is clear that strategic personnel management can push school improvement.” This occurs by hiring well, assigning the best instructor for a group or students or class, and they also “disrupt patterns of assignment inequity.” Effective principals “reduce overall teacher turnover...especially among their best teachers.”

Leading for Equity

Bringing an equity lens to schools, principals “focus on alternative instructional approaches such as culturally responsive teaching to meet the learning needs of all students.” Effective principals attend to “disparities in how students from different groups are treated” and “ensuring that students have equal access to the school’s strongest teachers.”

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The best investment a school can make is staffing an effective leader and “empowering them to implement high-leverage practices.” This includes constructing a productive school climate, encouraging collaboration, and strategically managing personnel and school resources.

Grissom, J. A., Egalite, A. J., & Lindsay, C. A. (2021). How principals affect students and schools: A systematic synthesis of two decades of research. New York: The Wallace Foundation.