The Principal's Companion

Book excerpt: Despite the administrative leadership that most principals receive in university courses, their most useful learning occurs once they are on the job. The new knowledge--much of it the result of trial and error--is gained in relative isolation. This second edition provides ideas, approaches, strategies, resources, tools, techniques, and reflective opportunities for principals to facilitate educational improvement on a daily basis. It retains the essence of the first edition while adding new strategies for addressing state and national standards, incorporating social and emotional learning, supervising and evaluating teachers to enhance the quality of student work, developing a love for learning in students, using brain-compatible teaching practices to maximize learning, using technology in meaningful ways, making data-driven decisions, sustaining effective professional development, practicing ethical leadership, and managing crises. Chapters are divided into seven parts: (1) "The Principal's Role"; (2) "Critical Skills for Effective Leadership"; (3) "Honoring the School's Mission"; (4) "Working Together to Build a Learning Organization"; (5) "Keeping the Pipes from Leaking: Adding Meaning to Traditional Practice"; (6) "Understanding Your Constituencies"; and (7) Professional and Personal Issues." Each chapter concludes with a set of reflective questions. (Contains 138 references and 14 additional readings.) (RT).