Leadership Matters: Six Principles for Effective School Leadership

What makes a school great?

This is a question I pondered often during my first year as an elementary principal at Scott Central Attendance Center. I had just begun my leadership journey, and I was eager to do everything I could to lead my school to be the best it could be.

I knew that my school was a good school. I also felt that we had the potential to become a great school. I just didn’t have the knowledge or experience to know if I was on the right track.

What do the best schools get right?

Toward the end of the school year, I asked my leadership team to study some of the highest-performing schools in the state to see what they did right. Each team member was assigned one school to research. We talked to those schools’ teachers and administrators, examined their websites and social media pages, and reported back on what we found.

Not surprisingly, we determined that the most important factor in a school's success is having high quality teachers in classrooms. Many top-performing schools had high levels of parental support, greater access to resources, and smaller class sizes. However, many great schools had limited resources, and their students still thrived.

Effective leadership is the common denominator that makes the best schools successful.

After our team’s conversation, I reflected on the fact that the most successful schools, regardless of their zip codes, had strong leadership at every level--district, building, team, and classroom.

Students were recognized not just for their own achievement, but for teamwork and helping others to achieve. Teachers took on roles beyond their typical instructional duties. Principals empowered others to lead and made sure to shine the spotlight on their accomplishments.

• Without effective leadership, schools struggle to align with a compelling vision, and competing priorities within the ranks make any attempts at improvement ineffectual.

• With effective leadership, however, schools involve everyone in the organization to work together to reach their goals, and everyone has a great time doing it.

Great schools are led by effective leaders who do six things intentionally and consistently.

1. Great school leaders are present. They structure their schedules to be around teachers and students at key moments in the school day.

2. Great school leaders prioritize instruction. Within the whirlwind of events that occur in a school day, they have conversations and make decisions that positively impact instruction.

3. Great school leaders set the tone for culture. They take pride in promoting a positive image and lead by example.

4. Great school leaders hold people accountable. Great schools have high standards, and teachers and students are responsible for attaining those standards. When something doesn’t measure up, effective leaders take action.

5. Great school leaders communicate effectively. They may not be the best orators, but great school leaders craft a compelling vision and get their message across using multiple channels so that everyone is in the know.

6. Great school leaders always follow through. Their followers trust their direction because they build a reputation for doing what they say.

The best school leaders know the value of effective leadership, and they take steps every day to improve in these six key areas in order to improve their schools. In this series, we'll go in depth with each of the six principles for great school leadership.

Next month, we'll look at Principle #1: Great School Leaders are Present.

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