Education Writers Association
June 2002
"Must an effective principal be a superhero?" asks this special report by the Education Writers Association. Until recently, principals mainly supervised teachers, managed the building, and dealt with parents. Today, they are also being asked to develop visions of learning, build school cultures, and develop instructional programs conducive to learning for all. Increasingly, they must be able to handle budgets, personnel, politics, and public relations for their schools, as more authority is devolved to them and they become more accountable for academic results. Does this add up to more than an ordinary human can reasonably manage? This report argues that the era of the effective principal as a "larger than life maverick" is over. Today, the authors write, "The truly effective principal is the first among equals, a team builder, a leader of leaders who encourages others to take responsibility for what happens in the school." As many as 40 percent of all principals are expected to retire in the next decade. Traditionally, principals have emerged through the teaching ranks, yet more teachers are turning their backs on administrative positions. Why take on the responsibilities of a 24/7 job for a small bump in pay? An added obstacle is the woeful preparation provided those who do seek to become school leaders. According to Harvard's Richard Elmore, who is quoted extensively in this report, "The content and institutional structure of existing training programs are fundamentally unsuited for the jobs we are asking [principals to take]." In Elmore's view, we are preparing a generation of "unqualified and credentialed" principals, when we need something drastically different. To check this report out for yourself go to www.ewa.org.
