PRESS RELEASE:

Principal’s job too complex for uniform treatment

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09/10/2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

University programs and school district professional development workshops offer the same training to nearly all principals, but a study released today finds that this kind of uniformity is out of step with what principals actually do and need to be effective.

Interviews with 150 educators in 21 schools – including public, private, elementary and secondary, traditional and charter schools – found that a principal does not have to be the standard-bearer in all areas of school leadership, which is precisely what traditional training proclaims.

“What we found shows it’s unrealistic to expect principals to do it all - the job is too complex and schools are just too varied,” says Bradley Portin, who performed the research for the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington.

The study, Making Sense of Leading Schools, commissioned by The Wallace Foundation, suggests that schools have distinct leadership needs, and that principals and others within the schools can meet them in a variety of ways. For example, every school needs instructional leadership, but principals do not always have to be the one to play that role – a veteran teacher may be an instructional leader while the principal focuses on other aspects of the organization’s effectiveness.

Indeed, the study finds that because schools face such a variety of challenges, perhaps the most important part of a principal’s job is diagnosing his or her school’s problems in order to implement the most appropriate solutions.

“This study has important implications for how school leaders are prepared and supported to be effective in raising student achievement, especially in schools with the highest needs,” said Richard Laine, director of education programs at The Wallace Foundation. “It’s not simply a matter of finding the cookie cutter for leaders, but matching the knowledge and skills of principals with the real needs of individual schools.”

The study’s findings suggest that districts should make thoughtful matches between leadership styles and abilities of principals and the needs and challenges of schools. Policy and practice should support, not discourage, a variety of leaders and leadership models.

“Districts that neglect making such matches between principals and schools are likely to continue to pay the price in ineffective schooling” Portin said.

Likewise, the study suggests that colleges of education that rely on a single formula of preparation designed to produce leaders who will be equally effective in all schools will ultimately fail potential principals who need more specialized and tailored training.

Other key findings:

• Principals learn by doing. Regardless of training, most principals learned on the job. “There was nothing in my training that prepared me for this job,” said one public high school principal in a typical comment. Universities and school districts need to develop more ways to integrate work and learning.
• Governance affects the ways key leadership functions are performed. Schools with governance structures that ensure more freedom of action, such as charter schools, appear to spread leadership functions around within the school more than traditional schools.
• District leaders should ensure that the authority they give principals matches the responsibilities they demand of them. Otherwise, principals can easily be put in a double bind of being responsible for everything while lacking the authority to decide anything.