For the past several years a lot of attention has been placed on the school principal and its role in driving student outcomes. Without diminishing the role of the teacher, research shows that a school will not regularly improve without a strong building leader. At this time last year we were replacing more than a quarter of our principals and a little less than half of our assistant principals. Clearly it was a big transition year for our schools’ leadership teams. But when I look back at where we were, to where we are, I don’t feel that the transition was bumpy; our new principals did well to embrace their assignments. In contrast, this year we will only replace two principals and one assistant principal. With what we know about school improvement, I am optimistic that our schools are well positioned to take another step up the improvement ladder.
I recently read that principals increase student learning through a series of deliberate actions including building a strong level of trust , growing the professional capacity of the teachers, promoting a culture of learning and establishing strong ties with the home and community. Putting each of these in place takes time and often a fair amount of what I like to call mucking around where mistakes are made before landing on the right level of guidance and action. I encourage all of our school communities to expect the very best from their principal and to also have patience with our newer principals- despite what might be perceived as mucking around know that they are on the right track.
Supporting our principals
For the past several years a lot of attention has been placed on the school principal and its role in driving student outcomes. Without diminishing the role of the teacher, research shows that a school will not regularly improve without a strong building leader. At this time last year we were replacing more than a quarter of our principals and a little less than half of our assistant principals. Clearly it was a big transition year for our schools’ leadership teams. But when I look back at where we were, to where we are, I don’t feel that the transition was bumpy; our new principals did well to embrace their assignments. In contrast, this year we will only replace two principals and one assistant principal. With what we know about school improvement, I am optimistic that our schools are well positioned to take another step up the improvement ladder.
I recently read that principals increase student learning through a series of deliberate actions including building a strong level of trust , growing the professional capacity of the teachers, promoting a culture of learning and establishing strong ties with the home and community. Putting each of these in place takes time and often a fair amount of what I like to call mucking around where mistakes are made before landing on the right level of guidance and action. I encourage all of our school communities to expect the very best from their principal and to also have patience with our newer principals- despite what might be perceived as mucking around know that they are on the right track.