The importance of dedicating time for teacher's professional learning is known, but dedicating adequate time for principals' learning and development is often neglected. The author recommends that superintendents take the following steps to guide their efforts to support principals' learning: (1) get to know principals as individual learners, (2)…

Over a century of research on K-12 public school principal time use (PTU) illustrates that principals spend time on professional tasks beyond the instructional hours of their school days. Similarly, a century of research on the division of household labor suggests that women spend more time on household labor than men daily. However, no prior PTU…

This qualitative case study investigated the processes by which an elementary school principal uses Distributed Leadership to accomplish leadership tasks and progress toward organizational goals. It aimed to provide a thick description of the practices, behaviors, perspectives, and experiences of the participants of Distributed Leadership. The…

The responsibilities of school principals in the United States have shifted to include instructional leadership in addition to the management of facilities and people. Principals at all levels can find it challenging to balance their administrative and instructional leadership roles. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to understand…

Districts are increasingly investing in coaching programs to improve teacher practice and student outcomes. However, merely providing schools with the funding for a coaching position is not enough. To maximize the return on the investment of coaching, our research on the Dynamic Learning Project (DLP) shows that districts need to ensure that they…

For many years, teachers have been involved in developing the national curricula in Finland in various ways. Teachers' involvement in curriculum design and implementation has, during the last national curriculum implementation process, increased locally to strengthen their confidence in and knowledge of the national curriculum's multifaceted…

In this case narrative, Peter, an experienced principal in a new school board and school, is struggling to keep up with the day-to-day challenges at his school and to achieve work--life balance. Challenges include: (a) small changes in the school can that demand some of his time; (b) daily unintended interruptions that are draining his time and…

The purpose of this research was to investigate a formal principal mentoring program and report on perceived learning benefits and the well-being of the participants. The study highlights aspects of the mentoring relationship evidenced in the explicit and intentional development of school leaders. The empirical investigation used…

Various job demands continue to be very stressing and exhausting for school administrators who have to work under unprecedented pressure. This qualitative study explores the various stressors school administrators experience and the coping strategies they utilize to manage their stress. Findings show that the various stressors experienced by the…

Research over the past 35 years consistently reveals that principals spend minimal amounts of time on instructional leadership activities. Similarly, we know very little about how principals might be trained to change their time allocation to focus more on instructional leadership tasks. The paper describes the implementation and the time use of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe how elementary school principals adjust their leadership practice in response to Washington's new teacher evaluation policy. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a modified content analysis of open-ended survey responses collected from elementary school principals in Washington State.…

The four appendices in this report accompany the full report "The Effects of a Principal Professional Development Program Focused on Instructional Leadership. NCEE 2020-0002," (ED599489). They include: (1) The Study's Principal Professional Development Program; (2) Study Design, Data Collection, and Analytic Methods; (3) Supplemental…

Since 2004, the National Institute for School Leadership (NISL) has offered the Executive Development Program (EDP), a leadership program for sitting school principals that is typically delivered in two-day workshops once per month over 12 months. From its inception through 2018, 15,000 principals across 23 states have participated in the EDP.…

Using data from the 2014 North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions (NCTWC) biennial survey researchers identified a sample from over 2,500 principals. The researchers surveyed 68 principals; 24 principals participated in a 19-item survey containing 5 demographic questions, 7 Likert-scale questions, and 7 open-ended questions. The descriptive…

Over the last years, principals in schools have had to contend with numerous governmental regulations that change with each passing year. The change from instruction based on concepts to instruction based on standards to instruction based on student performance has created a need for principals to utilize data in ever-increasing forms. Both…