Today's guest blog is written by Ray Smith and Julie Smith, former school leaders and the authors of Evaluating Instructional Leadership: Recognized Practices for Success (Corwin Press, 2015).
Inasmuch as the research on principal leadership in general has developed into a growing body of thick scholarship, the research on principal evaluation systems remains surprisingly thin. This is concerning given the fact that nearly 60 percent of a school's total impact on student achievement is attributable to effective teacher and principal practices (Seashore-Louis, et al., 2010) and the impact of leadership alone being described by some as the single most important factor in moving schools forward (Fullan, 2010).
In brief, while highly effective leaders are essential to school reform efforts and the exercise of specific leadership practices have been shown to have a strong, measurable effect on student achievement, teaching quality, and schools our current evaluation practices treat these key players as nonessential employees. So, what did we learn from the little research that is available on principal evaluation systems?
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