0.15 Stewart, s., & Tareilo, j. (october 2011). principal leadership  (Page 4/5)

The principal as instructional leader

A principal who possesses a strong and clear understanding of his or her role as an instructional leader would be able to help reduce the level of fear and lessen the concerns mentioned above because of their knowledge of the curriculum, their managerial skills to provide planning time, their willingness to have open and honest communication with their teachers, and their adeptness at evaluating teacher and student success.

Then key component to the success of any school and its students falls directly on the shoulders of the campus principal. Historically, principals were viewed as managers who needed to possess some knowledge of leadership. Instruction and student success was related to the impact the teacher had in the classroom while the principal was in charge of keeping the school safe, clean, and the budget balanced. However with the increase in state and federal mandates, the stringent accountability standards, and decreasing funding for special programs, the principal needed for 21 ^st century schools cannot be that of an office manager but one of an involved and knowledgeable instructional leader.

Orr (2006) contends that school leadership for today and the future requires principals have the ability to “build a community of learners” in order to develop a sense of “renewal for school improvement” (p. 494). The National Board Certification for Professional Teaching Standards (n.d.) believes that “effective principals are critical to the success of students, teachers, and entire schools. A successful principal creates a culture of learning.” (para. 1). The principal still stands as the one person on a campus who indirectly impacts student learning (Herrington&Wills, 2005).

At the high school level, understanding the importance of CCRS and the end-of-course testing changes the indirect and sometime passive role of the principal to one of an active participant in the learning processes taking place on their campuses. Tirozzi (2011) summarizes these thoughts when he writes “A principal who lacks the capacity to provide…instructional leadership is of no use to teachers…” (p. 2). Principals who choose not to focus on their responsibilities as instructional leaders will be of no use to their schools and more importantly, their students.

Implications for school leaders

The STEPS grant afforded an opportunity for stakeholders from four East Texas rural school districts and college professors from one university and one community college to bring their experiences and learning expectations together in order to focus on CCRS and ways in which the classroom teachers could impact their instructional methodologies and abilities. The issues that surfaced through the collaborative meetings revealed some concerns as well as several thoughts regarding the experience (STEPS, 2010):

1. Relationships were redefined.
2. The discussion format was very beneficial.
3. A strong sense of a networking system was established.
4. Participants were empowered by discovering their own abilities.
5. What they learned needed to be shared.
6. Parents needed more information about the impact of CCRS.