Research across the decades has confirmed that effective school leadership is associated with better outcomes for students and schools. A high-quality school leader affects dozens of teachers and hundreds or thousands of students. It is a pivotal role. From 2011 to 2016, The Wallace Foundation, through its Principal Pipeline Initiative (PPI),…

Great schools need great leaders! In fact, according to recent research by Seashore Louis, Leithwood, Wahlstrom and Anderson (2010), "To date we have not found a single case of a school improving its student achievement record in the absence of talented leadership (p.9)." As such, North Carolina's Race-to-the-Top (RttT) grant earmarked…

North Carolina's Race to the Top (RttT) grant earmarked approximately $17.5 million to "increase the number of principals qualified to lead transformational change in low-performing schools in both rural and urban areas" (NCDPI, 2010, p.10). To accomplish this, the state established three Regional Leadership Academies (RLAs)…

Locally controlled public schools are one of the cornerstones of our nation's democracy, yet many schools are not preparing students for success. Far too many students are not graduating, and many of those who do graduate are woefully unprepared for college or a meaningful career. Successfully initiating and sustaining meaningful improvements in…