The purpose of this paper is to summarize research about the experience of newer instructional leaders in Jewish day schools in order to identify best practice in supporting them. Data is drawn from the results of a narrative study that explored the socialization of ten Jewish day school principals in the first three years of their first position…

Educational leadership, including special education leadership, could benefit from learning sciences and advanced technologies used in other fields (e.g., psychology, medicine). Despite over 30 years of research, leadership preparation is not yet incorporating critical knowledge from the learning sciences to understand the expert versus novice…

The main purpose of the 2019-2020 evaluation of the Department of Leadership Development was to evaluate the implementation of the newly developed assistant principal (AP) and principal hiring processes, designed to select a diverse group of equity-focused, effective novice leaders. The hiring process consisted of using an online video…

This case focuses on one novice school principal's experience with an elopement incident. School elopement sets the background for this case, and in this situation, the principal sees the need to take action to increase school safety and special needs students' teacher support. The authors enumerate leadership practices and organizational…

In the era of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), there has been heightened attention on the role that effective school and district leaders play in a wide range of issues, including school improvement, quality classroom instruction and broader discussions of equity. In 2017, Education Commission of the States reviewed legislation related to…

The story of the past 15 years in U.S. education has been one of fundamental reform and transformation. These changes are felt most acutely in the daily lives of teachers and principals and often have lasting effects on the context of the school community. This case study explores the challenges facing a principal when attempting reform and…

This review aims at providing a synthesis of the scholarship that has sought to expand the understanding of the early career stage of principalship by documenting the experiences and tasks of new principals (NPs) in the first three years in the post, and their personal and organizational determinants. The synthesis is based on empirical research…

Using the Reflective Dialogue Journal process, principal leadership candidates at Dominican University gain critical support and a partner to share ideas and test theories on a regular and as-needed basis. After two years of implementation with 60 principal interns from public, charter, and private/parochial schools, there are more than 1,500…

Major education reforms are shifting teaching and learning in schools across the nation. As a result, educators' need for key supports is more important today than ever. This shift is the result of three significant and simultaneous reform efforts, all of which are scheduled to be operational in the near future: (1) More rigorous Common Core State…

"The New York City Aspiring Principals Program: A School-Level Evaluation" examined whether schools with novice principals trained through the Aspiring Principals Program had higher student achievement than schools led by other novice principals. The study included schools in New York City led by principals who were hired in 2004 or 2005…

The evaluation of a program designed to assist principals recently appointed to their positions is the focus of this article. Researchers conducted a variety of qualitative assessments including focus group interviews, a review of training session feedback forms, participant reflective writing, and an assessment of training materials and program…

This article examines how novice principals reflect on the adequacy or otherwise of their preparation. It looks at data drawn from the International Study of Principal Preparation (ISPP), and in particular a questionnaire of principals up to three years in post, in Scotland. The principals find much about their preparation has helped them gain…

Leadership has been under-researched in the Early Years (EY) sector of primary schools in England, especially in leading change for professional development. The aim of this paper is to theorise what the leadership culture for EY practitioners looks like, and how Initial Teacher Training providers and schools are preparing practitioners for…

This empirical qualitative study of 62 new principals was conducted over several years to determine what challenges they face, how the principalship compares with their expectations, and what their long-term career aspirations are. The findings indicate that the challenges experienced by new principals pertain to instructional leadership;…

This article examines the decisions made by one principal in her first year as a school turnaround specialist in a low-performing urban elementary school. Researchers focused on decisions related to the principal's three high-priority concerns: (1) elimination of an ineffective instructional program; (2) creation of a culture of teacher…