Seven years ago, I stepped foot into my office as the assistant principal of a middle level school of 800 students. Moving from my third-grade classroom to the main office was a hard transition because, for the previous eight years, I was only responsible for the 20–30 students within my classroom. I went from a […]
Category: Human capital management
The Principal’s Secretary: The Roots of Growth for the School and Its Leaders
Reculturing the Assistant Principalship
Assistant principalship serves as the entry level to educational administration and the gateway to the principalship, yet many assistant principals say they have been ill prepared for lead principalship. The question is, why? Why aren’t assistant principals being prepared to become lead principals? What skills are they lacking? What experiences haven’t they been exposed to? […]
The Ever-Growing Role of the Assistant Principal
In an unexpected way, being from Alaska actually helped me prepare for my role as the 2019 NASSP Assistant Principal of the Year. When you are from Alaska, you get asked a lot of the same questions over and over again when you meet new people. So I was prepared when in this role, I […]
The Nonnegotiable Role of School Librarians
What principals know and think about school libraries we have learned largely from our own past experiences and school librarians. I have had the distinct honor and privilege to work with and learn from some amazing librarians over the course of my career. These innovative educators have shaped my belief in the indispensable value of […]
Strategies to Curb Teacher Burnout
We have had a higher turnover rate of teachers the past few years, even as fewer individuals are entering the profession. It is no secret—we hire teachers, they become familiar with our staff, students, and procedures, and then some leave, creating a hole in the continuity of our schools. We then have to scramble to […]
Human Capital Management: Sowing the Seeds of Potential
While attending last summer’s National Principals Conference, rock star principal Jason Markey gently guided us through the dimensions of NASSP’s new Building Ranks™ framework. As the day unfolded, my eye was drawn to one dimension: Human Capital Management. I had never heard of this concept, and to be frank, it seemed sort of archaic and […]
A Team Approach to Master Scheduling
Most of us are a couple of months away from the daunting task of master schedule construction. Although this task is highly time-consuming, it can set the following year up for success. With this in mind, there are a few things I have learned over the years to help in schedule construction.
Principals Lead the Fight for a Diverse Teacher Workforce
Black students who have just one black teacher in elementary school are significantly more likely to graduate high school and attend college. Yet, the chances of a black student—or any student of color—having a teacher who looks like them are unacceptably slim. For high school principal Cory Cain, these numbers aren’t just a statistic, they […]
Assistant Principals: Strengthening The ‘Bench’ in School Leadership Pipelines
A National Board Certified Teacher, LaTanya Sothern, taught in Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland for 15 years. “I really felt I had more to offer as a leader,” she said during a Wallace Foundation podcast on school leadership. Serving as an instructional lead teacher gave Sothern “a little bit more training and a […]
Congratulations to the 2020 National Principal of the Year
Each year, the NASSP National Principal of the Year program recognizes outstanding middle level and high school principals who have made amazing contributions to their profession and to students’ learning. Kerensa Wing, principal of Collins Hill High School in Suwanee, GA, is the 2020 national winner.