Educação

Review of Research

School Leadership Study
Developing Successful Principals

Stephen Davis Linda Darling-Hammond Michelle LaPointe Debra Meyerson

Stanford Educational Leadership Institute

Commissioned by The Wallace Foundation

SELI Stanford University School of Education 520 Galvez Mall Stanford, CA 94305-3084

Phone: 650.724.7384 Fax: 650.723.9931 Email:principalstudy@stanford.edu http://seli.stanford.edu

This report was commissioned by The Wallace Foundation and produced by the Stanford Educational Leadership Institute in conjunction with The Finance Project. © 2005 Stanford Educational Leadership Institute (SELI). All rights reserved.

Principals play a vital role in setting the direction for successful schools, but existing knowledge on the best ways toprepare and develop highly qualified candidates is sparse. What are the essential elements of good leadership? How are successful leadership development programs designed? What program structures provide the best learning environments? What governing and financial policies are needed to sustain good programming? “School Leadership Study: Developing Successful Principals” is a major research effort thatseeks to answer these questions. Commissioned by The Wallace Foundation and undertaken by the Stanford Educational Leadership Institute in conjunction with The Finance Project, the study will examine eight highly developed pre- and inservice program models that address key issues in developing strong leaders. Once effective processes have been identified they can be replicated, ensuring that moreand more schools become vibrant learning communities under the direction of outstanding leaders. Citation: Davis, S.; Darling-Hammond, L.; LaPointe, M.; & Meyerson, D. (2005). School leadership study: Developing successful principals (Review of Research). Stanford, CA: Stanford University, Stanford Educational Leadership Institute.

Getting the Facts on School Leadership Preparation

More than ever, in today’s climate of heightened expectations, principals are in the hot seat to improve teaching and learning. They need to be educational visionaries, instructional and curriculum leaders, assessment experts, disciplinarians, community builders, public relations experts, budget analysts, facility managers, special programs administrators, and expert overseers of legal, contractual,and policy mandates and initiatives. They are expected to broker the often-conflicting interests of parents, teachers, students, district office officials, unions, and state and federal agencies, and they need to be sensitive to the widening range of student needs. While that job description sounds overwhelming, at least it signals that the field has begun to give overdue recognition to thecritical role and mounting demands on school principals. But are present and future principals getting the professional preparation they need to meet them? A range of critics, including principals themselves, raise a litany of concerns about the quality and effectiveness of the leadership preparation typically provided at university-based programs and elsewhere. That it is disconnected from real-worldcomplexities. That the knowledge base is weak and outdated. That curricula often fail to provide grounding in effective teaching and learning. That mentorships and internships often lack depth or opportunities to test leadership skills in real situations. That admissions standards lack rigor and, as a result, too many graduates will eventually be certified, but not truly qualified to effectivelylead schoolwide change. These criticisms are hardly new. What’s desperately needed, however, is not just another indictment, but a deeper analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of these programs and what can be done to improve them. We need a clearer picture of what is and is not known about the specific features and program attributes that can influence leaders’ beliefs and behaviors in ways...