School Leadership

Effective school leaders are essential for ensuring that students have access to strong educational opportunities. They shape a vision of academic success for all students; create a positive school climate; cultivate leadership in others so that teachers and other adults feel empowered to realize their schools’ visions; guide instructional decisions that improve teaching and learning; and manage people, data, and processes to foster school improvement. They also play a major role in retaining effective teachers and ensuring their success in the classroom. Ultimately, school leaders have a significant impact on students’ experiences and achievement.

The Learning Policy Institute’s work and research related to school leadership covers a variety of topics, including strategies to:

recruit and effectively prepare school leaders;
create high-quality professional learning opportunities to build leadership capacity;
reduce principal turnover, which can be disruptive to school progress;
improve working conditions; and
ensure equitable and supportive accountability systems that encourage principals and other educators to work in high-needs schools.