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The Society for the Advancement of Excellence in Education provides non-partisan education research and information to policy-makers, education partners and the public. Our purpose is to encourage higher performance throughout Canada's public education system.
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Principals and Student Achievement; What the Research Says
Reviewed by Dr. Susan Phillips, Winter 2004
By Kathleen Cotton © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. 2003. 107 pp. $18.95 ASCD member, $23.95 non-member. Paper. ISBN 0-87120-827-X. ASCD product no. 103309
This publication is an excellent quick reference for all those involved in school leadership. It simply and concisely explains 26 specific traits and behaviours of principals that influence student achievement as identified by researchers. Using 81 research articles from the last twenty years, author Kathleen Cotton distils the characteristics of successful instructional leaders. Her summary of the findings suggests the importance of the principal‰s role in fostering student achievement cannot be overstated.
The research base is large and varied, although drawn primarily from studies conducted in the United States and with a significant focus on low-SES (socioeconomic status) and minority students. Cotton presents their findings concerning how student achievement is affected by principal practices related to communication, classroom observations, recognition of achievement, school ethos, professional development, and many other aspects of their role.
Her synthesis of this research is organized in three major sections: Findings about Principal Behaviours and Student Achievement; Other Key Findings about Principals; and a Summary. For each of the many topics presented, Cotton provides a short synopsis of the evidence. Thirty pages of annotated references allow the reader to access more detailed information on the studies and other related resources.
Part 1 presents the research on the fundamental importance of the principal‰s role in producing the conditions which promote academic progress for all, including a safe and orderly school environment, high expectations, and school-wide goals focused on high levels of student achievement. Characteristics such as self-confidence, responsibility, perseverance, visibility and accessibility are highlighted. The roles of a positive and supportive school climate, shared decision making, parent and community outreach and involvement, staff empowerment, collaboration, and rituals and ceremonies are among the factors discussed. General findings about instructional leadership are outlined under further headings, including a section on what effective principals don‰t do.
Part 2 reviews the research about differences in leadership style. The influence of the principal is complex and largely indirect, being mediated through teachers and others. The relative effects of transactional and transformational leadership styles are referenced along with other factors affecting principal effectiveness. Because the role is highly relational, Cotton reviews the data around factors such as parental involvement, SES level of the school, gender, and the recent history and norms of the school.
Cotton cites studies that suggest female principals are more proficient as instructional leaders than their male counterparts, but she also offers explanations for these findings. In comparing elementary and secondary principals, subject matter specialization is given as one reason for the greater sharing of instructional leadership tasks by the latter group. While principals in low SES schools often focus more on managerial rather than instructional leadership tasks, those in high-performing low-SES schools often exhibit more of the instructional leadership characteristics reported earlier in this book.
Cotton‰s findings include a ‹dearth of instructional leadership.Š The dissonance between behaviours of effective principals as indicated by the research and actual principal time utilization studies can be mediated, however, by improving principal leadership development programs. The evidence refutes the ëleaders are born‰ adage, indicating that effective leadership behaviours are both observable and teachable.
Cotton concludes that an effective principal has a profound and positive influence on student achievement, and the opposite is also true. While acknowledging the trends of past research, her meta-analysis focuses on current and most relevant knowledge to support the contemporary principal‰s effectiveness as an instructional leader.
The late Kathleen Cotton was a Research Associate with the School Improvement Program of the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory and the author of more than 70 publications.
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