Social Justice: A Missing Link in A Literary Review of Successful Strategies Utilized by Principals for Retaining African American Teachers

Perceptions on leadership training to sustain teachers of color vary in approaches, ideologies, and values. However, what evidence is within the literature to depict what effective principals do to retain, in particular, African American teachers? In the present study, the authors have reviewed the literature from 2011-2020 through the lens of Critical Learning Theory. This examination led to an extrapolation of categories that indirectly embed social justice as a tool utilized for retaining African American teachers. Nevertheless, many well-known strategies utilized to promote the retention of present-day African American teachers do not include this motivating call-to-action within the parameters of their approach or training of principals. Social justice is an effective tool for supporting Generation X students who willfully and actively participate in digital and physical campaigns against systematic racial injustice. Therefore, educational leaders should transcend authoritative leadership and systematic racism with social justice as a pivotal strategy for teachers of color.

The Relationship Between Measures of Preservice Principal Practice and Future Principal Job Performance

Principals are the second-largest school-based contributor to student achievement. Interventions focused early in the “pipeline” for identifying and developing effective principals might be a promising strategy for promoting principal effectiveness, yet no prior research has examined measures of principal performance during preservice preparation. We analyze 31 measures of principal practices developed by New Leaders and integrate into their year-long, preservice Aspiring Principals program. We link these measures to administrative data in nine districts to understand how they predict student and principal outcomes after candidate placement. We find associations with gains in student achievement on standardized tests, gains in student attendance, and higher rates of principal retention. We compare our results with studies of measures from licensure exams and evaluation systems.

Principal evaluation in the United States: A national review of state statutes and regulations

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 national exploratory study (50 states) to document the trends in and provide an illustration of the current situation of states’ principal evaluation policies and practices. Using literature-based themes, our analysis of state statutes and regulations revealed that a majority of states have policies requiring at least one literature-based element. Only four (8%) states had statutes and/or regulations regarding allelements of principal evaluation that have been noted in the literature. Student achievement measures were the most common component—required in 66% of states. In addition, most states required principal evaluators to be trained and principals to be evaluated annually. We propose that future research focuses on the validity and reliability of measures and models used for principal evaluation—two aspects rarely addressed in principal evaluation policies—to ensure principal performance is meeting the needs of students, teachers, and schools.

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT: THEORY, POLICY, AND PRACTICE

There is great interest in educational leadership in the early part of the 21st century because of the widespread belief that the quality of leadership makes a significant difference to school and student outcomes. There is also increasing recognition that schools require effective leaders and managers if they are to provide the best possible education for their learners. Schools need trained and committed teachers but they, in turn, need the leadership of highly effective principals and support from other senior and middle managers. While the need for effective leaders is widely acknowledged, there is much less certainty about which leadership behaviors are most likely to produce favourable outcomes. I examine the theoretical underpinnings for the field of educational leadership and management, assess different leadership models, and discuss the evidence of their relative effectiveness in developing successful schools.

Principal selection for Qatar’s government schools: Policy makers’, principals’ and teachers’ perspectives

Research indicates that principals are critical in school reform since the implementation of policies and practices is to a large extent determined by the role that principals play in educational change. This study examines the principal selection process used in Qatar for the government schools and identifies knowledge and skills necessary for effective principals from the perspectives of policy makers, principals and teachers working in these schools. Qualitative interviews were held with three policy makers, 21 principals and 82 teachers in focus groups. Findings provide insight into the principal selection process and demonstrate that principals should develop their decision-making skills, should advance as instructional leaders and, since government schools are very diverse, principals must be able to manage issues of nationality, culture and equality. Recommendations are offered to improve the principal selection process for principals working in Qatar or other countries in the Gulf Region.

Principal Effectiveness and Principal Turnover

Research demonstrates the importance of principal effectiveness for school performance and the potentially negative effects of principal turnover. However, we have limited understanding of the factors that lead principals to leave their schools or about the relative effectiveness of those who stay and those who turn over. We investigate the association between principal effectiveness and principal turnover using longitudinal data from Tennessee, a state that has invested in multiple measures of principal performance through its educator evaluation system. Using three measures of principal performance, we show that less-effective principals are more likely to turn over, on average, though we find some evidence that the most effective principals have elevated turnover rates as well. Moreover, we demonstrate the importance of differentiating pathways out of the principalship, which vary substantially by effectiveness. Low performers are more likely to exit the education system and to be demoted to other school-level positions, whereas high performers are more likely to exit and to be promoted to central office positions. The link between performance and turnover suggests that prioritizing hiring or placing effective principals in schools with large numbers of low-income or low-achieving students can serve to lower principal turnover rates in high-needs environments.

Pengaruh Kepemimpinan Transformasional terhadap Keinovatifan Guru SMA Negeri Kota Lubuklinggau

The purpose of this study is to find out whether there is a direct positive relationship between teachers of public high schools in the city of Lubuklinggau. This study was designed using a survey method and in data collection using a questionnaire. The sample in this study were 38 teachers from Public High Schools in the city of Lubuklinggau. The results of this study indicate that there is a positive direct effect of transformational leadership on innovation. The conclusions from this study are the results of the transformation of effective principals, the innovation of high teachers. Keywords: Influence, Transparency of Leadership, Innovation, Teacher.

When Schools Change and Teachers Do Not: The Principal’s Use of Evaluation and Feedback to Impact Veteran Teacher Effectiveness

Effective principals provide teachers with feedback on the edges of their growth moving beyond compliance-driven teacher evaluations to meaningful cycles of observation and feedback. This case focuses on preparing principal candidates to address equity issues related to teacher practices that positively impact student achievement with a veteran high school teacher who is failing to respond to her school’s shifting demographics. Embedded in the case are additional challenges of leading a rural school. The principal, who is a new principal but previously taught with the teacher, now needs to provide research-based, culturally responsive, actionable feedback aligned to principles of adult learning theory and research-based instructional practices.

Principal Sorting and the Distribution of Principal Quality

Numerous studies document the inequitable distribution of teacher quality across schools. We focus instead on the distribution of principal quality, examining how multiple proxies for quality, including experience, teachers’ survey assessments of leaders, and rubric-based practice ratings assigned by principals’ supervisors, vary by measures of school advantage, using administrative data from Tennessee. By virtually every quality measure, we find that schools serving larger fractions of low-income students, students of color, and low-achieving students are led by less qualified, less effective principals. These patterns persist across urban, suburban, and rural settings. Both differential hiring/placement and differential turnover patterns by principal quality across school characteristics contribute to these patterns. Simulation evidence suggests that hiring and turnover vary in relative importance to principal sorting patterns according to the measure of quality examined and that differential principal improvement across contexts may matter as well. Complementary analyses of national survey data corroborate our main results.

Strategic Retention: Principal Effectiveness and Teacher Turnover in Multiple-Measure Teacher Evaluation Systems

Studies link principal effectiveness to lower average rates of teacher turnover. However, principals need not target retention efforts equally to all teachers. Instead, strong principals may seek to strategically influence the composition of their school’s teaching force by retaining high performers and not retaining lower performers. We investigate such strategic retention behaviors with longitudinal data from Tennessee. Using multiple measures of teacher and principal effectiveness, we document that indeed more effective principals see lower rates of teacher turnover, on average. Moreover, this lower turnover is concentrated among high-performing teachers. In contrast, turnover rates of the lowest-performing teachers, as measured by classroom observation scores, increase substantially under higher-rated principals. This pattern is more apparent in advantaged schools and schools with stable leadership.