Often little unsaid things demonstrate what is truly important in a school. When teachers have common planning time and all of the department chairs share a single space as they do at Norview High School in Norfolk, VA, the unmistakable message is that instructional collaboration and leadership are expected and valued. Norview, an urban,…

This article describes various aspects of school principal evaluation. The authors note that many states and school districts use evaluations that do not consider existing standards for principals or proven practices. It asserts that principal evaluations must be tools for professional capacity building that leads to improved teaching and…

Helping principals understand the importance of organizational justice is the first step in enhancing learning outcomes for all learners, regardless of their social class, race, abilities, sex, or gender. In schools, organizational justice may be defined as teachers' perceptions of fairness, respect, and equity that relate to their interactions…

Matthew R. Willis, an assistant principal at William C. Hinkley High School in Aurora, CO, is the 2013 NASSP/Virco National Assistant Principal of the Year. In this interview with "Principal Leadership," he is asked to relate what he believes are his largest accomplishments in his role as assistant principal at William C. Hinkley. He…

Ask a room full of sixth and seventh graders at Fossil Ridge Intermediate School in St. George, UT, to name their favorite part of the day and the answer is, in unison, always the same: REAL (respect, explore, achieve, lead) Time. This 35-minute block embedded into the school's schedule three days each week provides immediate, specific…

Green schools have moved into a new era that focuses on building a culture of sustainability in every aspect of learning in schools. In the early stages of sustainability education, the focus was on recycling and turning off the lights. Now, students and adults together are moving into the areas of advocacy and action that are based on a deep…

This article features Haymon-Morris Middle School in Winder, Georgia. This highly successful Title I middle school is tucked behind the high school in a rural area 50 miles northeast of Atlanta. The staff is dedicated to creating a culture where it is believed that a calm, serene school setting results in less stress for both students and staff…

Five years ago, Excelsior Springs (MO) Middle School set a new vision for its future. That marked the beginning of the school's work as a professional learning community (PLC) and has changed its focus and how it measures success. One component of Excelsior Springs's vision is safety: "developing and maintaining a welcoming, orderly, and…

A lack of time can cause or exacerbate many roadblocks to learning. For example, if the only time that staff members have to plan is after school when they are tired, tired planning occurs. Staff members may try sincerely to find extra time to show an interest in their students, but the importance of those efforts is often dismissed when staff…

One of the biggest roadblocks to addressing instructional rigor in schools is the resistance to change that is displayed by teachers, students, parents, and other building and district leaders. Every person deals differently with change. Some are more accepting, others more resistant. No change is successful if the people being asked to change…

Imagine a school where students walked out of class if they didn't agree with the teacher; where gang violence was prevalent both in and around the school; and where enrollment had dropped from 1,800 students in the mid-'90s to fewer than 500 in 2009, that is the school culture at Jackson Central-Merry High School in Jackson, TN. At the request of…

One of the most important challenges of a principal's day is that of building and maintaining a school culture that promotes safety and supports learning. So it should come as no surprise to experienced educators that school safety and positive school climate directly affect academic achievement. This article discusses how principals can build an…

In 2003, Dr. Freddie Thomas Middle School in Rochester, New York, was in serious trouble. In 2000, it had been labeled a "school under registration review" by the New York State Education Department and was under a directive to make significant progress or face serious consequences. Three years later in 2003, only 3% of eighth-grade…

This article features Lesher Middle School, a school of choice, as are all of the schools in the Poudre School District in Ft. Collins, Colorado. In 2004, it was a traditional junior high school with a declining enrollment that housed an application-based International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IB MYP) that resulted in tracking…

The conversations that take place in a school reveal a great deal about its culture. What educators say is a powerful indicator of the values and beliefs that form their school's culture.The School Culture Evaluation Exercise from "Breaking Ranks: A Field Guide for Leading Change" is a tool developed by the Center for Secondary School Reform that…