It’s no secret teachers make the biggest impact on whether or not a student achieves academic success. Until more recently, however, the role principals play in driving academic achievement has largely been ignored. We now know that our principals are second only to teachers in the influence they have on student performance.  

Strong school leaders help accelerate student performance by setting high expectations; recruiting, supporting and retaining great teachers; making decisions based on sound data; and engaging students and families. On the flip side, weak principals lack the knowledge and skills to help teachers and students achieve at high levels.

We will never achieve high academic performance—across an entire district or state—unless we figure out how to recruit, train, place and support an effective principal in every school building.  Unfortunately, principal training programs have widely been criticized as inadequate for preparing principals to succeed in their demanding jobs. 

So, just what makes an “effective principal” and how do we get lots of them, fast?

Wallace Foundation President Christine DeVita explored this question at the national Education Trust conference held last week in Washington, DC.   Joining DeVita was Stanford University Professor of Education Linda Darling-Hammond; Sandra Stein, CEO of New York City’s home-grown Leadership Academy; Fort Wayne (IN) Superintendent Wendy Robinson; and Matt Schiebel, a Fort Wayne middle school principal:

Darling-Hammond shared findings from her recent Wallace-commissioned study of eight effective programs.  The report identifies the key characteristics of high-quality school leadership training, such as running an aggressive and highly selective recruitment campaign, working in partnership with school districts, and focusing on the skills principals truly need to succeed to lead the schools of our future—managing change,  playing a hands-on role in curriculum and instruction, and leading high-performing organizations.

“The findings show that high-performing principals are not just born, but can be made,” said Darling-Hammond. “Those who are prepared in innovative, high quality programs are more likely to become instructional leaders who are committed to the job and efficacious in their work.”

Stein from showed that forward-thinking districts are charging ahead by running their own principal leadership programs.  The country’s largest school system designed its own “NYC Leadership Academy” to train aspiring principals and offer ongoing support to sitting principals.  The 14-month-long, full-time Aspiring Principals Program (APP) emphasizes focuses on building participants’ leadership and management skills, team- building and problem-solving skills, and instructional leadership to drive school improvement and close the achievement gap.  The program is highly selective.  In one recent year, it attracted 1,400 candidates and admitted 66.  Early results are promising.  Elementary and middle schools led by program graduates for three consecutive years achieved almost twice the gains in students’ reading proficiency ratings (6.4 percent vs. 3.7 percent gains) than comparison schools.  And high schools led by academy graduates for three consecutive years posted 9.6 percent higher gains in the percent of students earning 10+ credits over time compared to other schools.

Fort Wayne (IN) Superintendent Wendy Robinson shared her district’s efforts to prepare and support highly effective principals.  Borrowing from educational expert Michael Fullan’s work, Fort Wayne’s principal leadership focused on moral purpose, precision and professional development.  Robinson described principals as the “key levers” for driving academic excellence, which is carefully measured in the district by a balanced scorecard. 

While not participating on the panel, New Leaders for New Schools (NLNS) is another national group also tackling the issue of how to prepare our next generation of highly skilled principals.  NLNS partners with urban districts to recruit, train and coach strong school leaders.  Check out their recent report, Defining an Urban Principalship to Drive Dramatic Achievement Gains.

Back home, we applaud efforts in WA to strengthen the principalship, such as the new Washington State Leadership Academy and the work of the Association of Washington School Leaders. Please help us connect with principals you know who are leading our students to success.