The COVID-19 pandemic and the rapidly changing societal issues that it occasioned have accelerated the dynamic nature of the principalship. Changing demographics, technological advances, teachers' working conditions, social unrest, and in particular the global pandemic are among the factors driving this continuous role transformation. This study…

After years of school improvement efforts to include Georgia's four hundred-million-dollar Race to the Top grant, Georgia's elementary, middle, and high schools have failed to significantly improve schoolwide student achievement. This qualitative portraiture study focused on three successful principals of previously chronically failing Title I…

Research indicates today's schools are different from those in the past. The traditional view of school leadership is not the mindset in today's educational institutions. Principals are no longer the sole decision makers regarding what takes place in the schools. With increasing levels of accountability, there is a greater need for collaboration…

The George W. Bush Institute's School Leadership Initiative (SLI) District Cohort Research Project is a five-year effort with four school districts to test two frameworks--Principal Talent Management (PTM) and Effective Implementation. This collaboration is designed to improve how districts prepare, recruit, support, and retain principals. This…

There is excitement in the air at Clarke Central High School in anticipation of a $28 million renovation planned on its 27-acre, urban campus located just minutes from the University of Georgia in Athens. This extensive construction aims to fulfill a board of education mandate to provide equity among the Clarke County school facilities and will…

When the Burke County Board of Education mandated Burke County High School in Waynesboro, Georgia to "seek a solution" to its poor graduation rate--specifically, to change the school's schedule, teachers were given the responsibility and authority to plan and facilitate the transition. The transition process taught teachers and…

An effective school requires an effective leader, but great principals rarely just happen. They are cultivated. This Wallace Perspective draws on a decade of foundation research and work in school leadership to show how urban school districts can play a major role in ensuring they have principals who can boost teaching and learning in troubled…

Describes the everyday micropolitical facilitative strategies and personal characteristics of exemplary principals who have influenced and enhanced teachers' sense of empowerment. Data were drawn from a qualitative study that interviewed 275 teachers in 11 schools affiliated with C.D. Glickman's League of Professional Schools in Georgia.…

A study of 18 exemplary Georgia principals found that major psychodynamic changes can result from developing a shared-leadership style. There were changes in motivation, role conflict, and use of power. Principals sometimes wondered if they were needed, but most reaped major rewards: satisfaction, pride of accomplishment, and good press. Contains…

This article analyzes a study that examined Georgia charter-school teachers' and principals' perceptions of the ideal and actual practices in eight key areas of shared decision making: budgeting, curriculum/instruction, facilitating procedures, goals/visions/mission, operations, staffing, staff development, standards, and their overall impressions…

Interviews with 50 principals from elementary, middle, and high schools in rural Georgia examined the extent of collaborative decision making with teachers. Principals recognized teachers as best able to determine student needs. Teachers had high involvement in selection of instructional materials and development of the school's mission but…

Describes practices, thoughts, and feelings of exemplary, shared-governance principals at nine schools affiliated with Glickman's League of Professional Schools in Georgia, using open-ended interviews. Findings showed that implementing shared governance incorporates five salient themes: meanings, involvement of others, redistribution of power,…

Ways in which a high school principal implemented a shared decision-making structure into his school are described in this case study. Two research questions are explored: the identification of the principal's school improvement agenda; and how he improved his school. Methodology involved interviews with the principal and teachers, as well as…

Analyzes teachers' and students' perceptions of how participants became empowered in shared governance schools belonging to the Georgia-based League of Professional Schools. Includes descriptions of principals' related leadership practices. Participants reported increased communication quality and frequency both horizontally and vertically.…

Success in today's K-12 environment often hinges on improved test scores. But success should be defined more broadly to recognize the overall learning environment that is created by students, teachers, staff members, administrators, and parents. As a middle level principal, the author has learned that to create long-lasting change and to foster a…