The growing recognition of "how much" principals matter for student learning and "how" they make a difference has fueled the need to ensure that effective principals are leading every school. One way to achieve this is through principal evaluation, which has experienced significant changes in the last decade. We conducted a…

Anecdotal evidence points to the importance of school principals, but the limited existing research has neither provided consistent results nor indicated any set of essential characteristics of effective principals. This paper exploits extensive student-level panel data across six states to investigate both variations in principal performance and…

What is the state of university-based principal preparation programs? How are these essential training grounds of future school leaders viewed--by themselves as well as by the school districts that hire their graduates? Do the programs need to improve? If so, by what means? This publication seeks to help answer those questions by bringing together…

Research has demonstrated that principals have a powerful impact on school improvement and student learning. Principals play a vital role in recruiting, developing, and retaining effective teachers; creating a school-wide culture of learning; and implementing a continuous improvement plan aimed at increasing student achievement. Leithwood, Louis,…

Since 2000, Illinois has pursued an ambitious goal to strengthen principal preparation. This is a vital goal, as research has demonstrated that an effective principal is the key factor in improving schools and increasing student achievement. Through the work of numerous statewide committees and consortia, with funding support from several…

In 2007, educational leadership programs in Florida were notified by Florida's Department of Education of a law requiring all programs to align with new legislation, State Rule 6A-5.081. Previously, most state-approved preparation programs were based on Florida's Leadership Preparation Standards, a version of the 1996 Interstate School Leadership…

This annual volume offers the most complete and current listings of the requirements for certification of a wide range of educational professionals at the elementary and secondary levels. "Requirements for Certification" is a valuable resource, making much-needed knowledge available in one straightforward volume. [For "Requirements for…

Across the country, states and districts are designing principal evaluation systems as a means of improving leadership, learning, and school performance. Principal evaluation systems hold potential for supporting leaders' learning and sense of accountability for instructional excellence and student performance. Principal evaluation also is an…

Principals who are strong, effective, responsive leaders help to inspire and enhance the abilities of their teachers and other school staff to do excellent work. Such principals also tend to retain great teachers and create opportunities for them to take on new leadership roles. This leads to the following key question: What can state policymakers…

This mixed method study was designed to investigate first year campus administrators' perceptions of the effectiveness of the Texas state-mandated principal mentoring program. The study examined campus administrators' perceptions of the effectiveness of the program using a survey instrument adapted from Dr. Norman H. Cohen's (1998),…

This article is about the changes in educational reform that have adversely affected teachers and their principals. With the new evaluation system, teachers and school leaders will be evaluated partially on student success. Other educational reforms include the discontinuing of New York State Regents Exams in January and in August. A…

University-district partnerships for preparing school leaders typically have well-defined organizational structures, established practices and procedures, and parity among partners--all of which can take considerable time and effort to achieve. Thus, is it realistic to expect that university-district partnerships will emerge simply through…

Many states are mandating reforms in university-sponsored principal preparation programs, but faculty and school system personnel often have concerns about the prescriptive nature of state mandates related to these reforms. Auburn University served as one of four pilot principal preparation program redesigns in Alabama, a process that took over…

Education Law Section 3012-c requires a new performance evaluation system for classroom teachers ("teachers") and building principals ("principals"). New York State will implement a statewide comprehensive evaluation system for school districts and boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES). The evaluation system is…

The Delaware Department of Education, in collaboration with the Delaware Academy for School Leadership at the University of Delaware, has been the recipient of Wallace Foundation funding since 2000 as part of the foundation's initiative to develop and share ideas for strengthening education leadership. The grant has enabled the state education…