Why Principals Matter: Exploring The Research On School Leadership. School Leadership Brief_18P429_digital_FINAL | Page 4

1.
Strong Principal Leadership Is
Instrumental To Improving And
Maintaining Effective Schools.
Principals are second only to teachers
in their school-level impact on student
achievement, but their impact is indirect.
Teachers instruct their students every
day and have a very direct impact on
student achievement. Although principals
play a different role, they have a strong
effect on students and their teachers. The
most effective principals create a strong
school culture, set a mission, and hire and
retain effective teachers, all of which are
associated with improvements in student
achievement. 4 This effect is even stronger
in high-poverty schools, which are most
in need of highly effective principals. 5
In a recent survey, Tennessee principals
were asked what activities they spend
their time on during an average week.
3
Figure 1 shows Tennessee principals spend
their days on a wide range of activities,
including observing, coaching, and
planning with teachers, creating student
schedules, connecting with parents and
the community, and addressing student
discipline. On average, most Tennessee
principals spend about 3 hours per week
coaching teachers. 6
The kinds of changes principals could
make to improve struggling schools are
difficult to fully implement immediately
upon taking the helm. In fact, research
following graduates of principal preparation
programs suggests that it may take a few
years for a new principal’s improvements
to take hold and start to improve student
achievement. 7