EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP IS THE KEY TO SCHOOL CULTURE AND PERFORMANCE

Any number of studies have looked at why some schools achieve under challenging circumstances, while other similarly-situated schools struggle.24 To a study, these reports chronicle the overwhelming importance of people, starting with the school leader. Effective principals attract and retain energetic and attuned teachers, promote a focused and coherent instructional program, know how to engage parents and the community and astutely deploy resources.

Surveys tell us that a positive work environment and a supportive principal are critical determinants of a teacher’s decision to stay at a school or in the profession.25 Likewise, a teacher working-conditions survey commissioned by the state of Illinois in 2008 (the “Illinois Tell” survey) confirmed that school leadership is the most important factor in teacher retention, and showed a disconcerting lack of confidence among teachers in their principals.26

Despite the importance of having effective leaders in every school, we know very little about who holds these positions in Illinois. What we do know is that the principal’s job is extraordinarily complex, involving skills that range from instructional leader to budget director to personnel manager, and that, done well, the principalship is an all-consuming endeavor of long days, frequent evenings and year-round press.

We also know that sound judgment and vision are essential to making the myriad instructional, management and resource decisions that drive school-level success and do (or do not) create a powerful school culture.

If we mean to attract the sort of talent required for this position, we must set high expectations, empower effective leaders to do this complex job in a way that respects their responsibilities and talents and ensure leaders make good use of the tools at their disposal.

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