For school leaders, summer is the time to relax, recharge, and read. Here, we share our top five picks from the “Syllabus” section of Principal Leadership. Items include books about timely topics in education as well as podcasts that are worth a listen. Be sure to check out new “Syllabus” selections in the September issue […]
Principal Difference
A Summer Syllabus for School Leaders

Best Practices for Implementing a K–12 Math Intervention Program
Your school or district has decided to invest in a math intervention solution—or maybe you’re narrowing down your options. Regardless of where you are in your math intervention program journey, a key consideration is implementation. While often overlooked, a robust implementation plan enables the success of any program.

A Community Pushes for School Upgrades, Together
Paul Robeson High School for Human Services is a small school in West Philadelphia that, like many others in cities across the country, is housed in a building with inadequate air conditioning that makes it almost impossible to teach and learn because of excess heat in the warmer months. By next school year, however, Robeson […]

What’s a PLC Meeting, Anyway?
What Is a PLC? As I work with schools across the nation and beyond, I often hear statements like these: “Our PLCs are meeting on Tuesday.” “We will be ‘PLCing’ on Wednesday afternoon.” “PLCs happen here every other week.”

NJHS Chapter in Egypt Shows Universal Appeal of Community Service
As the co-adviser of a National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) chapter at the American International School in Egypt, I’m constantly amazed at the students I work with. They come from all over the world, but the majority are Egyptian or Egyptians with dual nationalities. I work with a fantastic co-adviser, Nina Picard.

Listening and Learning Tour Features Stops Out West
As the end of the school year approaches, NASSP President Gregg Wieczorek is winding down Leading Forward: The Listening and Learning Tour. The latest tour stops, highlighted below, come from California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah.

Three Things to Know About Gen Z’s Mental Health Crisis
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Children’s Hospital Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry recently declared the mental health crisis in young people a national emergency.

Employee Assistance Programs Provide Valuable Mental Health Services
With all the concern lately about the mental health of students and school staff, school leaders should make sure they are taking full advantage of what can be a great resource in their districts: employee assistance programs, or EAPs.

A Homegrown Recruitment Program Helps Ease Staff Shortages
Other schools might be having trouble filling staff vacancies, but that’s not an issue at Haines City High School in Polk County, FL. We’ve been fully staffed since before the pandemic, and I don’t expect that to change.

My “Go-To” Tools for Leading My School
At the Maine Principals’ Association conference last month, I spoke about what I feel are the most important tools in an administrator’s toolbox. These are the tools I’ve relied on in my 28-year career as a school leader. As the school year draws to a close and you take some much-needed time to rest and […]