School Heads’ Great Inner Qualities

By: Elvira Diones

School Heads perseverance is one of their great inner qualities. Change, while good, can also be

disruptive when it occurs too frequently. In the case of school leadership, it has been documented that

frequent turnover results in a negative school climate, which in turn has a negative effect on student

performance.

Committed and effective principals who remain in their schools are associated with improved

schoolwide student achievement. As a corollary, principal turnover is associated with lower gains in

student achievement. Principal turnover has a more significant negative effect in high-poverty, low-

achieving schools — the very schools in which students most rely on their education for future success.

The negative effect of principal turnover suggests that principals need time to make meaningful

improvements in their schools. One study found that it takes, on average, 5 years of a new principal

leading a school for the school’s performance to rebound to the pre-turnover level.

The best leaders, therefore, are willing to commit to a school and persevere despite the

obstacles or challenges. After all, realizing a vision doesn’t happen overnight; true transformation takes

time. A leader’s commitment displays not only passion but dedication, which can have a tremendously

positive effect on school culture.

They Are Lifelong Learners. Perhaps the most important of all qualities that a school leader can

possess is the unquenchable thirst for knowledge. As John F. Kennedy said, “leadership and learning are

indispensable to each other.” The best leaders, no matter what industry they work in, know they will

never know it all. They are humble in their knowledge yet confident in their abilities. They’re endlessly

curious individuals who never stop questioning, and learning.

 It takes a real sense of personal commitment, especially after you’ve arrived at a position of

power and responsibility, to push yourself to grow and challenge conventional wisdom. Which is why

two of the most important questions leaders face are as simple as they are profound: Are you learning,

as an organization and as an individual, as fast as the world is changing? Are you as determined to stay

interested as to be interesting? Remember, it’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”
 The School is a Family.

By: Elvira Diones

There is an air of connectedness that any visitor can sense immediately when walking into a

school that is led by a great principal. I’ve heard it referred to as “a community of caring.” Teachers and

parents talk about the school leader being accessible and students feel at home in the building, aware

that the principal cares about them. One teacher said, “If I needed him right now, I could talk to him

right now, no matter what he’s doing.” The sense of teamwork is apparent, and just as good teachers

maintain a family atmosphere in a classroom, good principals establish that same feeling in the school as

a whole. There are frequent celebrations and the work is fun for everyone in the building.

Teachers are treated as professionals. Over and over, school after school, I heard these words:

“He lets me teach.” Although great principals are instructional leaders who guide the staff in the best

interest of student learning, they do not micro-manage their teachers. Instead, teachers are given

respect and the flexibility to provide instruction that is meaningful for the students in their classrooms.

Similarly, great principals were teachers first. As one teacher described his principal, “He’s never

forgotten where he’s been.”

Instruction in the school is data-driven. Great principals disaggregate data schoolwide so they

can give their teachers a “big picture” understanding of instructional needs. They also take that data and

determine methods for sharing best practices among the staff as well as for selecting professional

development opportunities that correspond with those methods. Teachers are empowered to use data

with individual students in their classrooms as they plan lessons that promote student growth. In

addition, the academic culture is celebrated as principals reward academic success in ways that

motivate students and staff.

 They are student-centered. Great principals know their students. They know their names, their

stories, their strengths, and their weaknesses. They know all about their families, their dreams, and their

limitations. Walk through a school with a great principal, and you’ll see him or her with an arm around a

student, having a conversation about a recent test score or athletic event. Students love good principals;

they know when they’re cared about and they know when an administrator makes a difference in a

school and in their lives.

 “Principals Develop Other Principals”

By: Elvira Diones

Great principals work diligently to ensure that their teachers are equipped to be leaders in the

classroom. Resources and supplies are available, and opportunities for professional development are

strongly encouraged. Student leadership is also valued in schools with great principals. Students are

given opportunities to excel in areas of interest to them, whether they are athletes or members of the

chess club. And school principals serve as important mentors to their assistant principals and interns.

They have good help. Great principals aren’t expected to do it all alone, and they don’t expect

that of themselves. They “distribute” leadership as they work with assistant administrators and teacher

leaders to achieve the vision of the school. They take care of themselves and urge others to do the same

because they know there’s always another hill to conquer and they need to be in tip-top shape to keep

climbing up.

One teacher summed it up well when she told me: “Our principal makes me want to be a better

teacher.” A leader of leaders—that’s what a great principal is.