Effective Principal

“Producing a decided, decisive, or desired effect: impressive, striking: ready for service or action: actual: being in effect: operative. This is how Merriam- Webster defines the highly-sought adjective in today’s world, “effective.” Another dictionary defines it as “adequate to accomplish a purpose; producing the intended or expected result.” However, when this mighty adjective is put before “principal” or “school leader” it encompasses more than its explicit meaning in the dictionary.  

“The intended or expected results” of business is to make money. Neither business nor leaders of such business would be called effective if there is no profit involved. One would not call his/her car “an effective way of transportation” if it is not moving, hence not serving its intended or expected result.

What about schools? What are the intended or expected results of schooling?  What are they for? What intentions and expectations do people have when they hire a principal to run a school? Although, there are other purposes of schooling such as creating productive citizens maintaining a desired culture, it is mainly preparing students for life and proving them with skills necessary to survive and succeed in the society that they live in. The desired outcome of schooling is mainly learning.

It would be difficult to name a place as school where there is no learning process taking place. The person who plays the most profound role in making sure that learning takes place in a school is principal. Effective schools that produce the “desired and expected” results are created and sustained largely through effective principals/leaders. While it is possible for strong leaders to help a school overcome problems and weaknesses, rarely is it possible for a school to rise above its leadership in order to achieve success. Both education lore and research on leadership agree on one point: when it comes to creating effective schools, it's the principal that matters most.

However, the relationship may be more indirect than direct. Principals can positively influence the schools’ curricular, instructional, and assessment programs. They can shape the organizational structures used to deliver the programs of the school. And principals can significantly influence the relationships among staff members within the school and the norms and values that form the basic culture. In essence, the principal is probably the most essential element in a highly successful school.

Since principals are people who are able to make the biggest difference in schools, they need to be equipped with necessary leadership skills, management skills, as well as adequate knowledge and tools in order to produce the desired results, hence is “effective” “The job of principal is “undoable” in sense that all the work never gets done. So the principal who thrives must have a clear sense of which activities produce the most student gains” says Daniel Duke, a well-known researcher on school success.

Evolving role of a principal

In the past twenty-five years, the definition of "strong leadership" has evolved from a traditional, take-charge style of influence to a more facilitative model. The principal's job in today's schools is far more difficult and demanding than it has ever been. It has been made especially hard by the need to empirically demonstrate through "wall chart" data continuous improvement in student achievement for all students.

A joke that's always been making the rounds among teachers begins: "What does it take to be a high school principal?" The answer? "A graduate degree and a winning football team." It may be funny, but it's no longer true. The days of principals resting on gridiron victories are gone. Across the country, there's not a hotter seat in all of education than the one in the principal's office.

Deborah Childs-Bowen, the president of the National Staff Development Council, has strong views on the evolving role of the principal. In a lead editorial in Journal of Staff Development, she wrote: “Now is the time to have a proper burial for the antiquated and dysfunctional role of principals. Let’s put to rest the notion that school leadership is synonymous with charismatic, top-down, autocratic leadership. After we have paid our respects to the old way of school leadership, we must begin to embrace a vibrant new kind of leadership that is generated from inside out and bottom up. The real work of principals becomes that of supervising learning versus supervising teaching. The viability of future generations of teachers and students to thrive is largely dependent on principals making this shift.

What does it take to be an effective principal?

Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, McREL, has conducted probably one of the most comprehensives studies in school leadership, “Balanced Leadership: What 30 years of research tells us about the effect of leadership on student achievement,” in 2003.

McREL conducted a systematic meta-analysis of nearly every available study (including doctoral dissertations) that purported to examine the effects of leadership on student achievement reported since the early 1970s. Then they focused on 70 studies over 5,000 of them that met their criteria with dependable data. These 70 studies involved 2,894 schools approximately 1.1million students, and 14,000 teachers.

After analyzing studies conducted over a 30-year period, McREL identified 21 leadership responsibilities that are significantly associated with student achievement. A reasonable conclusion can be drawn from their findings that principals need to have the necessary leadership skills, management skills, as well as adequate knowledge and tools in order to be effective.

Leadership Skills

First and foremost, “effective principals establish clear goals and expectations and keep those goals in the forefront of the school’s attention” says the McREL study. The most effective way to do so in a school is to create a common vision that are shared by stakeholders of the school-teachers, students, and parents. 

A young man gets lost in the woods. Not knowing what to do and where to go he runs into a cat. “I am lost and confused! There are so many paths here in the woods. Can you tell me which one to take?” he pleads from the cat. The cat replies with another question; “Where do you want to go?” Young man says “I do not know.”  Cat replies in a way that describes what many of ineffective schools go through; “it does not matter which way you go then!” Effective principals know where they want to go and work on how to get there through establishing a shared vision.

Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker talks about the importance of having a shared vision in their book, Creating the New American School. “Effective organizations have a shared sense of purpose, a direction, or what the literature on organizational effectiveness refer to as a “shared vision.” Shared vision provides the blueprint for a school improvement program, and thus the effort to improve a school must start with a process to arrive at this shared vision.”

“The critical importance of vision has been cited by those who have studied effective businesses and effective leaders. John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene (1985, 24) concluded that the first ingredient of establishing an outstanding company is a “powerful vision, a whole sense of where a company is going and how to get there.”   (pg 23)

However, effective principals communicate and revisit the common vision that they developed during practice. Almost all schools have vision statement. They can be found in student handbooks, school brochure or newsletter, sometimes on walls, entrances, etc… Effective principals make sure that day to day practices in their schools derive from the vision and it is not something that was developed and filed away that most people do not even remember what it was. Effective principals rather keep the vision alive and translate it into values that are maintained.  

Effective principals involve teachers in the design and implementation of important decisions and policies and they foster collaboration amongst their staff. It is such an irony that teachers work in such isolation in our society who believes that “it takes a village to raise a child.” In his extensive study of schooling practices in the United States, Goodlad (1984) found that teachers rarely had the opportunity to join with their peers in collective endeavors. There were few instances of teachers exchanging ideas or practices, and teachers rarely worked together on school-wide problems. The isolation of teachers is apparent to anyone who has spent time in the classroom; indeed teaching has been described as the second most private act in which adults engage. The isolation poses a formidable barrier to school effectiveness. (DuFour, 73)

Effective principals model teamwork, provide time for collaborative work, and advocate sharing and peer observation. They encourage teachers to visit other teachers, even in other schools, to observe classrooms and programs. They develop coaching relationships. Encourage teachers to become peer coaches. Effective principals also involve teachers in decision making process through leadership teams and instructional teams. Once teachers are involved in decision making process they will feel valued and develop a sense of ownership towards the school. One would constantly hear “our school” from teachers and administrators in an effective school. Principal play the biggest role in creating such an environment and effective principals do that.

Effective principals establish strong lines of communication with teachers and among students. One of the critical requirements of effective leadership is being responsive to others—teachers, support staff, parents, and the community. School administrators demonstrate this responsiveness through frequent and thoughtful communication. Webb and Norton (2003) remind school leaders that effective communication is essential in developing “a climate of trust, mutual respect, and clarity of function.”

Principals are in a position that necessitates communication with a wide variety of people about different situations, problems, and issues. The principals consider different elements of communication, purpose of the message, content of the message, the recipients of the message, ways to communicate the message, and the desired outcome of the message. Even with these considerations, the challenge of communicating frequently enough and using the appropriate method is ever present for the school administrator. The administrator of today has a multifaceted job, which includes setting objectives, organizing tasks, motivating employees, reviewing results, and making decisions. Tasks cannot be accomplished, objectives cannot be met, and decisions cannot be implemented without effective communication. (Berube, Young, Perry, 2006)

Importance of effective communication practices in today’s schools cannot be overemphasized. Lysaught (1984) indicated that failures in communication lie at the heart of problems in organization, goal setting, productivity, and evaluation. It would be difficult for anyone to manage an organization who is not knowledgeable in communication principles and techniques and skilled in their use (St. John, 1996). Many writers on school leadership have considered the ability to communicate one of the most essential talents in the area of effective leadership.

Effective principals foster shared beliefs and a sense of community and cooperation hence a positive school culture. “The evidence is pervasive. The challenge is real. The need for some leaders to take the necessary risks to build positive school cultures has never been greater. If Starbuck’s CEO can pour his heart into a cup of coffee, so too can school leaders pour their hearts into student learning” say Terrence Deal and Kent Peterson in their book, Shaping School Culture. (1999)

Culture affects every aspect of schools from what faculty talks about in the lunch room, to the type of instruction that is valued, to the professional development is viewed, to the importance of learning for all students, to the policies and regulations under which school is run. Therefore, effective principal realizes the importance of a positive culture in a school and takes the necessary steps in forming such a positive culture in his/her school. Mission and purpose as central features of cultures, rituals and traditions, ceremonies, history and stories, and celebrations are some of the key factors in building a positive culture in a school and effective principals pay a great deal on them.

Another author, Todd Whitaker, talks about the importance of a positive culture in schools in his book, What Great Principals Do Differently. “The principal who sets a positive tone can influence the interactions of everyone in school.” Effective principals make sure that they do this even when they do not feel like it. “Focusing on all positive things in our schools-and there are many-gives us more drive and energy to get through the less positive times.”(25) Effective principals set this positive tone in their school. So many things can bring teachers down; an upset parent, a troubled student, limited resources. Effective principals continually take a positive approach.

“It was evident that the daily environment in the highly successful schools was characterized by positive interpersonal relationships among those working together. It also was evident that the principal established the norm for those relationships in the manner in which he or she worked with others in the school setting and that teachers understood the importance of relationships, particularly relationships with one another and their students.” This is also what the National Study of Leadership in Middle School Level by NASSP found which is an attribute to effective principals.

Effective principals recognize and celebrate school accomplishments. Terrence Deal conveys an experience in his book about how perception of parents about school is far from celebration of accomplishments. “A few years ago contestants on a popular television quiz show, “Family Feud, “You were asked to respond to the following questions: “You have just received a call from your child’s school. Why has the school called?” The same question had been asked to hundred members of the show’s studio audience. The five responses selected most frequently were:

• He has misbehaved
• He is failing
• He is doing poor work or missing assignments
• He is ill or injured
• He is truant

Educators bombard parents with negative messages and then are puzzled when parents react negatively to the school. Effective principals therefore, understand the importance of celebrating success regardless of how small they might seem to be.  However, a sense of success must start from within. “Students, parents, and members of the larger community will never develop a high regard for a school unless the staff members within have that high regard first:” (Deal 1999)

Principals are generally reluctant to give public recognition to individual staff members with a concern that it might be regarded as favoritism or that be recognizing some individuals other will feel slighted. Effective principals find every excuse to recognize their staff. In addition to recognition and celebration, they also develop annual rituals that bring staff members together, provide extensive, ongoing orientation programs for new staff members, and most importantly develop a reward system to recognize accomplishment of their staff and students.

Management Skills

Are the above mentioned leadership skills enough to be effective for a principal? In an evolving education world these leadership skills are necessary but unfortunately not enough to be an effective principal. Effective principals have the necessary management skills and “laser-like” focus on student achievement. They know and spend quality time on highest value activities in their schools.

Kim Marshall, a veteran Boston principal explains why most principal do not focus on highest leverage activities in his article in Kappan in 2003. “Because it’s profoundly countercultural in most schools for administrators to pop into classrooms unannounced, ask teams for unit plans, and require teachers to give common assessments and use the results to improve instruction. Many teachers are in the habit of planning at the last minute, have gone for years without authentic conversations with their principals, and have fallen into what Grant Wiggins calls the educator’s egocentric fallacy: I taught it, therefore they learned it – and if they didn’t, it’s because of last year’s teachers, neglectful parents, hip-hop culture, and other factors outside my control.”

However, effective principals face such daunting tasks with courage and get out of their comfort zone in order to focus on what really makes a difference in student achievement. Although, it’s natural to shy away from things that are difficult and provoke resistance, and many principals fall victim to creative avoidance, effective principals do not. Those myriad daily distractions – and the less difficult forms of supervision on our initial list – provide a ready excuse for not getting to the hard stuff.

However, effective principals bear strong convictions about what works, incredible self-discipline, and, yes, courage. “Instructional leadership is all about minimizing activities that don’t contribute to teaching and learning and focusing relentlessly on those that do – even if there’s some initial discomfort and push-back. This kind of leadership will continuously improve the quality of teaching, promote collegiality and a deep sense of efficacy among teachers, and close the achievement gap that is the shame of our schools.” (Marshall, 2003)

Effective principals value their students. That is why “student achievement” or “learning” is their main focus. A well-known researcher on school effectiveness, Daniel Duke, describes this as “Effective principals are acutely aware that students are more than test scores, that teachers are more than instruments for raising scores, and that the hopes and dreams of parents entail more than higher scores… they understand the message that psychologist Abraham Maslow tried to convey decades ago – that people must feel cared for and cared about before they will take the risks necessary to achieve. In unsuccessful schools, unfortunately, students too often get the message that they must first achieve in order to be valued.” (Duke, 2004)

Duke then continues to explain some of the management tools that effective principals should have in his article. “Effective principals find ways of increasing time where it is needed most, either by adding (paid) time to the school day and year or cutting down on less productive aspects of the school day. Principals can add to teachers’ productivity by arranging for them work with the smallest possible groupings of students and the combinations that are likely to add the most value.

One of the most important management skills that effective principals have is the use of data to monitor student progress. Effective principals constantly gather data on student progress and expect teachers to use diagnostic instruments, practice tests, and frequent in-class questions to monitor how students are doing – and follow up when students are struggling. “Waiting until students receive failing grade on their report cards is not a viable option. By that time, these students often have fallen so far behind their classmates that catching up is unlikely. Effective principals make certain they know which students are at risk of failing and they personally see to it that help is provided both within and outside of class.” (Duke.2004)

Effective principals have more than a passing familiarity with the curriculum: They know it thoroughly in order to assess the degree to which it is being effectively taught. Closely related to the development of an effective information-management system is the ability to analyze and use the data available to effectively assess the areas where students are not achieving to expected levels of proficiency.

As often noted in the school reform literature, schools are rich in data but analysis-poor. A national study on school leadership at middle school level by NASSP addresses this issue. “Principals must know how to lead data-focused meetings at which, among other things, data is disaggregated by gender, race, disability, and socioeconomic level. In addition, careful analysis of test items in each subject area may be able to reveal patterns of where students are not doing well. Such an analysis should be used to inform actual decisions by the school's staff—decisions that lead to the development of clear objectives and strategies to improve teaching and learning. Strategies should clearly address areas in need of improvement, as determined through an analysis process that is led by the building principal.”

Careful analysis of school data may also reveal the need curriculum alignment for effective principals. It is as essential skill for effective principals to be able to align the curriculum with standards in an era of high-stakes testing. “While educators can debate the unfunded costs, the fairness, and the warped logic of the No Child Left Behind Act, the reality is that current administrators are faced with the need for compliance with the federal law to avoid severe sanctions. So their curricula must align with external standards that give a clear sense of what satisfactory performance means at each grade level and within each discipline” coveys the NASSP study.

Effective principals have the ability to manage information, the ability to analyze and use data for decision-making, and the ability to align and monitor the degree to which the curriculum and instructional program are in sync with external standards: This list represents a tall order for any principal, and it simply cannot be done alone. “It requires that teachers collaborate, and sit together to examine the results of their instruction. Teachers must, together, ask questions: In what areas are students not doing well? Which lessons seem to be most successful for students having difficulty learning? Can these lessons be shared and adapted by other teachers?” (Price, 2004)

This kind of collaboration will not happen unless the principal establishes a school climate and culture that supports, values, and rewards this type of professional behavior. Whether we call it building a community of learners, developing collegiality through collaboration, or some other term, it is the sine qua non of effective principal leadership, and is required of the principal in this new age of standards and accountability.

When you look at all the skills mentioned in this paper, they are all intertwined. One also would realize that there is no single recipe for effective principals. In order to be effective, a principal must practice and gain all of these skills. It takes time… Principals need autonomy to practice and implement some of the fundamentals mentioned above. It also takes dedication, perseverance, courage to be effective. Most principals have an idea about what it takes to be effective…they all talk about vision, and mission statement… However, only those who are determined enough close the gap between what they practice in reality and what they know.