Ten Questions to Ask on School Leaders
When I was covering the education beat in Las Vegas, an annual
survey of teachers in the Clark County School District (the
nation’s fifth-largest) always yielded plenty of fodder for
stories. But what struck me in particular was the No. 1 reason –
year in and year out – given by teachers when asked why they had
decided to leave a school. It wasn’t overly challenging students,
or low pay or a long commute. Rather, it was dissatisfaction with
their principals.
Now let’s consider that anecdote as part of a larger context: How
principals influence the strength of a school’s teacher
workforce. We know that the quality of classroom instruction is
the single largest in-school influence on student achievement.
But recent research by the Wallace Foundation has found the
second-place spot goes to school leadership.
There’s a clear link between effective campus leadership and
effective teaching. But it’s one that doesn’t get explored often
in education reporting. What if we viewed these elements as
essential components that should overlap regularly, rather than
parallel tracks?
To get a better idea of what reporters should be thinking about
when they tackle the issue of school leadership, I reached out to
someone who’s been doing particularly fine work on this issue:
Lesli Maxwell of Education
Week. I also tapped some experts in the field: Michael Foran
of New Britain (Conn.) High School, and the MetLife 2011
Principal of the Year; Jody Spiro, educational leadership
director at The
Wallace Foundation; and Michelle Young, professor at the
University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education and executive
director of the University Council for
Educational Administration.
Based on those conversations, I’ve put together 10 questions for
education reporters to consider asking principals, teachers, and
the community at large when writing about school leadership:
1. Why is the turnover rate so high for principals,
particularly those working in schools with large populations of
minority students and students from low-income families? What
might it take to decrease those rates in your district, and are
any such efforts underway?
2. Ask principals: What do you view as your most important
contribution to the daily operations of your school?
3. How often do principals visit classrooms to observe
instruction when it’s not part of a scheduled evaluation? Ask
teachers how they feel when they see their principals enter their
classrooms. What feedback do they get when the visits are
over?
4. On the flipside of No. 3: How often are principals
getting feedback on their own performance, either in the form of
an annual evaluation or through more informal channels? Ask
teachers and other school staff what options they have for
voicing concerns about their principals – or for singing their
praises.
5. On average, how quickly are educators advancing up the
leadership ladder in your district? How many years are they
spending in the classroom before becoming an assistant principal,
and then how quickly are they given charge of their own
campus?
6. As a follow-up to No. 5, ask principals in your
district how much professional development they received before
taking their post. Most districts offer a leadership academy for
would-be principals. Do the current principals feel that training
is sufficient? What would they add? And are they getting
continuing professional development, or do they feel isolated?
Are they assigned mentors or coaches, particularly in their first
three years in the position?
7. More and more, schools are becoming “community
centers.” How are principals reaching out to stakeholders in the
public and private sector, as well as to the families of
students? Ask principals what role they’re playing in
communicating to parents and the public at large, and how that
information is shared. Are there regular events beyond
back-to-school nights? Is social media being used to keep parents
in the loop or share school news?
8. What do principals say gets the bulk of their attention
during a typical school day or week? How would they reallocate
their time, if they could?
9. How much autonomy do school leaders have to make
campus-based decisions? Do they control their own budgets and
hiring? Would they like more control – or less?
10. Many states and local districts are trying to give
parents more educational
options for their children, though publicly funded choice
programs and charter schools, for example. How are principals of
“regular” schools responding to this kind of competition?