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eSchool News
What makes a great principal?
Content provided by East Central University
December 11th, 2019
A school and its staff can thrive under a great principal--here are seven hallmarks of strong school leadership
Great principals lead effective schools. Under the leadership of a
great principal, teachers thrive, students engage with core content and
school administrative functions run smoothly.
Conventional wisdom recognizes the value of school principals, and
research backs it up. A report by the National Association of
Elementary School Principals found that, of the most important factors
affecting students’ academic achievement, leadership comes second only
to instruction.
This finding makes sense as principals serve as the head of their
schools, and their decisions affect school culture, parent involvement
and overall community satisfaction. The level of influence a principal
possesses, along with the benefits that can accompany the position,
make it a post that many motivated educators aspire to hold.
Not everyone has what it takes to execute the job effectively, however.
Serving as a principal requires specific skills and characteristics
that positively affect the school as a whole.
The importance of a school principal
Before considering the qualities of a great principal, it’s important
to realize just how vital a principal’s role really is. Research
published in the Hechinger Report showed that school principals account
for 25 percent of students’ academic gains, and only teacher
effectiveness had a greater impact. Researchers now believe that what
makes a great principal also makes a great school. Setting clear
direction, mentorship and investment in professional development –
these things matter in the classroom, at the school level and at the
district level.
An article written by The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and
Improvement stated that leadership’s effects show the greatest impact
in the areas where they are most needed. A troubled school, for
example, is unlikely to turn around without an effective leader’s
guidance. Increasing awareness of a school principal’s influence on
student and teacher performance is reshaping how educational leaders
and thinkers view school reform.
Rigorous testing, with its system of teacher-directed rewards and
punishment, is being replaced by a growing consensus that the key to
school reform lies in effective leadership. Districts and private
schools are recruiting top-quality educational leaders and empowering
them to create the educational changes the public demands. As
leadership expert John Maxwell famously put it, “Everything rises and
falls on leadership.” Since the evidence suggests this is as true in
schools as it is in businesses and nonprofits, educators now have to
ask, What makes a great principal?
The 7 priorities of a great principal
1. Collaboration
A great principal fosters a collaborative school culture. Education
consultant Steve Barkley has identified six distinctive school
cultures, three of which – toxic, fragmented and balkanized –clearly
emerge from and perpetuate organizational dysfunction.
Another of the six cultures, contrived-collegial culture, enforces
collaboration from the top down, which may be necessary in an
organizational transition, but without teacher buy-in, forced
collaboration rarely works in the long term. Instead, a truly
collaborative school culture emphasizes working together within the
common framework of strong educational values. The goal of a
collaborative school culture is effective instruction, and great
principals engender this kind of culture in their schools.
2. Listening
Traditional models of leadership focus on a single charismatic leader
who tells others what to do, but contemporary leaders listen to the
people around them, consider a variety of ideas and then make their
decisions. Great principals spend time listening to students, teachers,
parents, other administrators and educational researchers.
This kind of listening goes beyond simply paying attention while others
talk. It requires understanding a speaker’s motivations, listening for
what they are not saying and asking powerful questions.
3. Leadership
When asked what makes a great principal, many teachers and parents may
give their answer with a single word: leadership. Though definitions of
leadership vary, their common thread is influence. A principal holds a
title, and with it, the authority to implement their will on teachers
and students. However, a great principal uses influence, as opposed to
demands, to illicit the desired behaviors and attitudes from their team
and students. People follow an effective leader because they want to,
not just because they have to.
4. Visibility
Effective principals make it a priority to spend time in the classroom,
the lunchroom, the hallway, the bus line and the main office.
Essentially, they get out of the office. This approach used to be
called management by walking around, or MBWA.
By simply walking around their workplaces, leaders can glean a lot from
observing their team, resources, student behavior and how teachers
respond to students in formal and non-formal settings. An article in
Forbes said, “Companies (and schools) could benefit significantly if
senior leaders would get out more — get away from their offices, the
unnecessary meetings and the power lunches and see what’s going on
elsewhere in the organization.”
5. Relationships
Nearly everyone wants to maintain relationships with other people, but
meaningful relationships go deeper than maintaining. They have purpose.
To build meaningful relationships, great leaders need to know how to
set and respond to relational boundaries. They don’t isolate themselves
or let their teachers hunker down in their classrooms all alone. But
they also don’t force all teachers to act or teach alike.
Great principals establish high, reasonable and clear expectations that
don’t keep teachers guessing. This approach creates trust, allowing
teachers to be comfortable with taking ideas or problems to the
principal. By creating meaningful relationships with parents and
students, principals can often curtail problems or conflicts before
they begin. In so doing, these principals keep teachers from having to
manage too many emotionally draining situations on top of their regular
work.
6. Support
Many classroom educators leave the profession every year because they
feel unsupported by their administrators. There’s even a saying:
“teachers quit principals, not schools.”
Research backs that up. An article published by the Brookings
Institution said great principals do an exemplary job of retaining
effective teachers, but not ineffective ones. The article went on to
say that the best principals practiced “strategic retention.” A great
principal must be able to discern between high- and low-performing
teachers. They must be able to create an environment in which high
performers flourish and low performers can grow and improve.
7. Learning
Great principals never stop learning. Common sense dictates that the
best educators and leaders are also lifelong learners. Research from
the National Education Association (NEA) revealed the same thing.
According to the NEA’s landmark report, Great Teaching and Learning,
educators can take charge of their professional development through a
specific series of steps. They start by taking an initial
self-assessment, setting career growth goals, working toward those
goals and finally conducting a post-activity self-assessment.
For a principal, working toward a career growth goal might mean
conducting and publishing research in an academic journal or assuming a
leadership position in an educational or community organization.
Teachers who aspire to serve as great principals can also set ongoing
learning goals, such as obtaining additional formal education through
an online master’s degree in educational leadership . This kind of
advanced degree prepares teachers to transition out of the classroom
and into administrative roles.
The online Master of Education in Educational Leadership program from
East Central University will help you gain the confidence and skills
necessary to carry out your new responsibilities effectively. Our
program was designed with working teachers in mind, and because of the
online format, its flexible to fit around your busy schedule.
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