The paper is an exploration of dual-role school district leadership in a small rural state. Dual-role leaders are individuals who fulfill all the roles of both the school superintendent and principal. Smaller rural school districts are the districts that often utilize a dual-role superintendent and principal model. The position of principal and…

School districts, faced with increasing shortages in the education profession, are leveraging internal district strategies to recruit and grow their educators. In addition to preparing and credentialing new educators, districts are turning inward to cultivate their leadership pipeline. This case study explores a post-credential inner-district…

Purpose: This study replicates and extends prior research on principal hiring preferences and conceptualizations of teacher "fit." We investigate the specific fit dimensions principals value, the contextual factors informing their fit conceptualizations, and the implications of fit-based hiring for schools and candidates. By shedding…

Reciprocal trust among leaders in education improves the learning outcomes for students, which is the primary goal for educators. Researchers studying administrative teams have found the degree and level of reciprocal trust that exists in a learning organization between district-level leaders and principals can aid or impede the implementation of…

This qualitative case study looks at school improvement through the on-the-ground experiences of principal supervisors. Beginning with a review of literature on how systems are organized for success, the role of district central offices, and the impact of leadership on improvement, I investigate the work of principal supervisors as they develop…

Many district and school leaders have leveraged instructional leadership or social justice leadership to advance student achievement for minoritized students. While research has examined these approaches separately, we identify a potential gap at the nexus between instructional and social justice leadership. In particular, we find a need for…

This non-experimental quantitative study aimed to examine the relationship between principal coaching and principal job satisfaction. The study had two research questions: Is there a relationship between the coaching from central office administrators and principals' job satisfaction? Which coaching practices from central office administrators, as…

In "From Tinkering to Transformation," Meredith Honig and Lydia Rainey call on superintendents and other district leaders to rethink the very premises that underlie the long-standing ways of working in their central offices. Based on the results of nearly two decades of research from districts of 2,000 to 200,000 students, Honig and…

Effective school-level leaders impact student achievement. McREL's analysis of research found that effective leadership is not about leader personality or style; rather, it's about a set of 21 specific actions and behaviors that are significantly associated with higher levels of student achievement. This report translates the 21 actions into a…

This was a case study of the principal succession planning practices of a large school district in Oregon. For the study, the researcher interviewed nine principals and nine central office administrators and surveyed 17, K-12 assistant principals within the studied school district. The findings from this study reveal many strengths and weaknesses…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how educational leaders in the Northeast region of the United States describe the influence of their childhood experiences and attachment styles on their current leadership behaviors. Bowlby's attachment theory provided the theoretical framework for the study which aimed to address…

Urban school districts are often tasked with turning around poor school performance. Research, however, tends to focus on the school's role in reform and sustaining change, rather than the role of the school district, particularly the central office. This study of a mid-sized Midwestern urban K-12 school district attempts to address the gap in the…

To influence student achievement and improve learning outcomes, building leaders are expected to exercise key elements of instructional leadership. School leaders experience barriers to engaging in efforts to increase teacher effectiveness and guide instructional improvement, due to the demands on their time as they balance the operational,…

In spring 2024, the authors surveyed 156 American School District Panel member districts about principal pipeline activities across seven domains -- leader standards, principal preparation, selective hiring and placement, on-the-job support and evaluation, principal supervision, leader tracking systems, and systems of support -- to estimate the…

In this era of the Great Resignation, when nearly 40% of principals anticipate leaving their roles, districts need more resilient leaders who can meet the challenges ahead. The past two years--from the global pandemic to the national social justice movement--have created a vastly more complex and demanding environment for school leaders. The need…