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Principals are understood to be critical actors in improving teaching and learning conditions in schools; however, relatively little is known about the leadership strategies to which principals should dedicate their time and effort to improve outcomes. We review the empirical literature from 51 studies of principal behaviors and student, teacher, and school outcomes and conduct a meta-analysis of these relationships. Our analysis has three central findings: (1) we find direct evidence of the relationship between principal behaviors and student achievement (0.08–0.16 SD), teacher well-being (0.34–0.38 SD), teacher instructional practices (0.35 SD), and school organizational health (0.72–0.81 SD); (2) we highlight the importance of principal behaviors beyond instructional management as potential tools to improve student achievement outcomes; and (3) the preceding findings are based almost entirely on observational studies because the causal evidence base on school leadership behaviors is nonexistent. We argue our findings suggest value in investing in school leadership capacities. We conclude by discussing opportunities to improve the quality of future research examining the relationship between principal behaviors and student, teacher, and school outcomes.

If students are to be successful in school, at work, and in their personal lives, they must learn to write. This requires that they receive adequate practice and instruction in writing, as this complex skill does not devebp naturally. A basic goal of schooling then is to teach students to use this versatile tool effectively and flexibly. Many schools across the world do not achieve this objective, as an inordinate number of students do not acquire the writing skills needed for success in society today. One reason why this is the case is that many students do not receive the writing instruction they need or deserve. This chapter identifies factors that inhibit good writing instruction, including instructional time; teachers' preparation and beliefs about writing; national, state, district, and school policies; and historical, social, cultural, and political influences. It then examines how we can address these factors and change classroom writing practices for the better across the world by increasing pertinent stakeholders' knowledge about writing, with the goal ofdevebping and actualizing visions for writing instruction at the policy, school, and classroom levels. This includes specific recommendations for helping politicians, school administrators, teachers, and the public acquire the needed know-how to make this a reality.

Previous research suggests high school counselors are not living up to their potential as social/emotional, academic, and postsecondary counselors. This article addresses this concern by studying how schools and districts utilize counselors. Through interviews and observations of high school counselors, administrators, and counselor educators in an urban midwestern community, I find that counselors suffer from role ambiguity and role conflict due to lack of a clear job description, overlap with similar professions, supervision by noncounseling administrators, inadequate forms of performance evaluation, and conflict between their roles as counselors and educators. This conflict leads to poor boundaries at work, with counselors receiving an overwhelming amount of noncounseling duties that reduce their time with students. High school counselors have the potential to improve student social and academic outcomes, but these obstacles of role ambiguity and role conflict reduce them to school managers rather than master’s-level trained educators with a mental health background.

Background A substantial literature has established the role of the inner organizational setting on the implementation of evidence-based practices in community contexts, but very little of this research has been extended to the education sector, one of the most common settings for the delivery of mental and behavioral health services to children and adolescents. The current study examined the factor structure, psychometric properties, and interrelations of an adapted set of pragmatic organizational instruments measuring key aspects of the organizational implementation context in schools: (1) strategic implementation leadership, (2) strategic implementation climate, and (3) implementation citizenship behavior. Method The Implementation Leadership Scale (ILS), Implementation Climate Scale (ICS), and Implementation Citizenship Behavior Scale (ICBS) were adapted by a research team that included the original scale authors and experts in the implementation of evidence-based practices in schools. These instruments were then administered to a geographically representative sample ( n  = 196) of school-based mental/behavioral health consultants to assess the reliability and structural validity via a series of confirmatory factor analyses. Results Overall, the original factor structures for the ILS, ICS, and ICBS were confirmed in the current sample. The one exception was poor functioning of the Rewards subscale of the ICS, which was removed in the final ICS model. Correlations among the revised measures, evaluated as part of an overarching model of the organizational implementation context, indicated both unique and shared variance. Conclusions The current analyses suggest strong applicability of the revised instruments to implementation of evidence-based mental and behavioral practices in the education sector. The one poorly functioning subscale (Rewards on the ICS) was attributed to typical educational policies that do not allow for individual financial incentives to personnel. Potential directions for future expansion, revision, and application of the instruments in schools are discussed.

PurposeThis study aims to explore the challenges reported by Israeli school vice-principals regarding their relationships with principals and teachers. The study examines two questions: (1) How do vice-principals perceive the challenges involved in their relationships with principals and teachers? and (2) How do they respond to these challenges?Design/methodology/approachThe study employed a qualitative approach to explore the challenges encountered by Israeli school vice-principals in their relationships with principals and teachers. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 17 vice-principals, allowing for an in-depth understanding of their perspectives and experiences.FindingsThe findings of the study highlight three challenges mentioned by the research participants: bridging between principals and teachers, maintaining complete loyalty to both sides and middle-ground responsibility for the school.Originality/valueThis study enriches the existing literature on vice-principals by investigating their distinct position as intermediaries bridging teachers and principals. It offers valuable insights into the challenges they encounter in their interactions with both parties, as well as their strategies to tackle these issues. Through the application of role theory, the research deepens comprehension of the intricate nature of the vice-principals' role, providing pragmatic suggestions for improvement.

Despite major changes to teacher evaluation since 2009, scant research examines how principals enact these policies. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 44 principals in 13 Connecticut districts, we use structure-agency theory to characterize how principals improvised when implementing the state evaluation model. We find that principals' use of discretion varied across the system's components, took different forms, and appeared aimed at varied outcomes. Particular forms of discretion supported the system's goals, while others likely undermined them. Principals tended to use their discretion to further the system's development aims as opposed to its accountability goals. Our findings have implications for the enactment of teacher evaluation policy, the roles of district administrators, and principals' work as instructional leaders in an accountability context.

School principals can play an important role in promoting teacher leadership by delegating authority and empowering teachers in ways that allow them influence in key organizational decisions and processes. However, it is unclear whether instruction and student learning are enhanced by promoting teacher influence in all aspects of school organization or whether it is better for principals to directly work on certain processes while delegating influence on others. We compare pathways from principal leadership through school organizational processes to student outcomes that include teacher influence as a mediating factor to pathways that do not include teachers’ influence. Our results suggest that effective principals use teacher leadership to improve the school learning climate while they work directly on professional development and school program coherence.

This article explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic department chairs. Through a survey of 172 department chairs in the United States, the central findings of this research—intensified challenges, a multidirectional leadership pivot, and competing perceptions of higher education reinvention—reinforce the liminality of the academic chairperson role, highlight the need for increased training and development opportunities for individuals engaged in this work, and offer a reminder of ensuring that the broader perspectives of department chairs are included in efforts to reinvent institutions of higher education. These findings depict crisis leadership as a required competency for academic leaders.

This article explores the relationship between school contextual factors and teacher retention decisions in New York City. The methodological approach separates the effects of teacher characteristics from school characteristics by modeling the relationship between the assessments of school contextual factors by one set of teachers and the turnover decisions by other teachers in the same school. We find that teachers' perceptions of the school administration has by far the greatest influence on teacher retention decisions. This effect of administration is consistent for first-year teachers and the full sample of teachers and is confirmed by a survey of teachers who have recently left teaching.

Scholars have long argued that principals should be instructional leaders, but few studies have empirically linked specific instructional leadership behaviors to school performance. This study examines the associations between leadership behaviors and student achievement gains using a unique data source: in-person, full-day observations of approximately 100 urban principals collected over 3 school years. We find that principals' time spent broadly on instructional functions does not predict student achievement growth. Aggregating across leadership behaviors, however, masks that some specific instructional investments predict year-to-year gains. In particular, time spent on teacher coaching, evaluation, and developing the school's educational program predict positive achievement gains. In contrast, time spent on informal classroom walkthroughs negatively predicts student growth, particularly in high schools. Additional survey and interview evidence suggests this negative association may arise because principals often do not use walkthroughs as part of a broader school improvement strategy.