This multiple case study examined the role of four US state-recognized high-quality principals in the implementation of change initiatives in their Midwestern schools. Participants were selected based on nomination by the state department of education and district superintendents. The research question guiding the study was: how do principals promote positive school culture to support the implementation of change initiatives? Specifically, the study explored how principals engage staff to create a positive learning environment and how their influence on organizational culture changes classroom practice. Organizational culture and change theories served as the lenses for analysis. Three salient leadership practices of successful principals emerged during data analysis: great principals manage the implementation of multiple initiatives by (1) empowering teachers by cultivating trust, (2) knowing their staff well, and (3) engaging in explicit and purposeful communication.

Purpose: There is growing recognition of the importance of educator diversity. The purpose of this paper is to examine the production, placement and employment of school leaders as assistant principals, principals and school leaders in Texas by the intersection of race/ethnicity and gender over 23 years. Design/methodology/approach: This is a quantitative study that employs multilevel logistic regression analysis to examine using 25 years of educator employment data from Texas. Findings: The authors find descriptive evidence of an increase in diversity of school leaders driven by a decreasing percentage of white men educators and an increasing percentage of Latina educators. Important differences, however, emerge when examining assistant principal vs principal positions, particularly with respect to the odds of being hired. The authors find black male and Latino educators are more likely than white male educators to be hired as an assistant principal but are less likely than white male educators to be hired as a principal. Women educators, regardless of race/ethnicity were less likely to be hired as assistant principals or principals relative to white male educators. Women of color had the lowest odds of being hired in any position relative to white male educators. With respect to school leader preparation program accountability, the authors find few program characteristics associated with placement and differences between programs explained very little of the variation in placement rates, bringing into question efforts to hold programs accountable for such outcomes. Originality/value: A longitudinal examination of racial/ethnic and gender intersectionality over 25 years is a unique contribution to the study of inequitable access to school leadership positions.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to examine the assumptions underlying efforts to evaluate principal effectiveness in terms of student test scores, to review extant research on efforts to estimate principal effectiveness, and to discuss the appropriateness of including estimates of principal effectiveness in evaluations of principals. Method: We review 10 different strategies for estimating principal effectiveness based on student test scores, representing all of the strategies currently employed by states and districts. We base our reviews on the literature in three areas: use of test scores, evaluation, and statistical approaches to estimating the effects of individuals and schools on student test scores. Conclusions: We conclude there are currently no strategies to estimate principal effectiveness that accurately capture the independent effect of principals on student test scores; thus, these current strategies send inaccurate signals to both principals and those who make employment decisions about principals. Moreover, we also conclude a substantial proportion of principals could not be included in the most accurate strategies to assess principal effectiveness. Implications: This research has profound implications for states and districts implementing principal evaluation systems, particularly those making high-stakes decisions about principals based on statistical estimates of principal effectiveness. Indeed, such statistical estimates should be used not for making judgments or decisions about principals but rather as a screening tool to identify where states and districts should focus more in-depth and accurate strategies to evaluate principal effectiveness.

This is a case study of an elementary teacher's decision to add multicultural children's books to her curriculum and an analysis of how her ideologies about race shaped the classroom discourse. Although the teacher's stated purpose was to teach the pitfalls of racial stereotypes by encouraging conversations about prejudice, often the classroom talk normalized Whiteness in ways that shut down explorations of racial diversity, power, and oppression. This article describes how multicultural literature is used in an upper elementary classroom to supplement the existing curriculum and how a teacher's beliefs about race are present in the resulting discourse.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of personal and program characteristics on the placement of graduates of principal preparation programs in assistant principal, principal, and school leadership positions. Research Design: This study relies on Texas principal production data from 1993 through 2007 matched to employment data from 1993 through 2013. The data include personal characteristics of each program’s graduates (age, sex, and race/ethnicity), program characteristics (program type, percentages of female graduates, and percentage of White graduates), labor market location, and certification year. We employ both descriptive statistics and multilevel logistic regression analysis to examine the factors associated with obtaining employment as an assistant principal, principal, and school leader. Findings: At least 50% of graduates obtained placement as a school leader within 5 years and about 70% did so over 10 years. Within 5 years of certification, men, Latinos, and middle-aged graduates had greater odds of employment as a school leader than women, Whites, and younger and older graduates, respectively. Differences arose, however, when examining placement as an assistant principal and principal separately. In particular, Black and Latina/o graduates had greater odds of employment as an assistant principal but had lower odds of employment as a principal than their White peers. Finally, there were few program characteristics associated with placement, and differences between programs explained very little of the variation in placement rates, bringing into question efforts to hold programs accountable for such outcomes.

Recent federal legislation has created strong incentives for states to adopt principal evaluation systems, many of which include new measures of principal effectiveness such as estimates of student growth and changes in school climate. Yet, there has been little research on principal evaluation systems and no state-by-state analysis of the principal evaluation systems adopted at the behest of the legislation. This study uses survey data and document review to assess the components of principal evaluation systems in the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Finally, based on recent research, this study critiques the various components of these new evaluation systems.