Indicators for Effective Principal Leadership in Improving Student Achievement

Indicators for Effective Principal Leadership in Improving Student Achievement - "Effective principals are strong educators, anchoring their work on central issues of learning and teaching and continuous school improvement. According to Mike Schmoker in his book 'Results: the Key to Continuous School Improvement', the combination of three concepts constitutes the foundation for positive improvement results: meaningful teamwork; clear, measurable goals; and the regular collection and analysis of performance data. Principals must lead their school through the goal-setting process in which student achievement data is analyzed, improvement areas are identified and actions for change are initiated. This process involves working collaboratively with staff and school community to identify discrepancies between current and desired outcomes, to set and prioritize goals to help close the gap, to develop improvement and monitoring strategies aimed at accomplishing the goals, and to communicate goals and change efforts to the entire school community. Principals must also ensure that staff development needs are identified in alignment with school improvement priorities and that these needs are addressed with appropriate professional learning opportunities."