Mentoring for principals during their first years on the job, once a relative rarity, is now required by half the nation's states--a major advance from a long-standing "sink-or-swim" attitude toward new school leaders and a belated sign of recognition of the role that well-prepared principals can play in lifting student achievement. But…

Specific problems (involving power, implementation, mission, time management, expertise, cultural constraints, avoidance, and motivation) are keeping school-based decision making from improving teaching and learning. Educators must begin with a clear mission, set explicit goals for the decision-making process, alter governance structures to…