The Principalship: A Student-Centered Approach

Student learning is the main reason for the school’s existence. The focus on results, the focus on student learning, and the focus on students learning at high levels can happen only if teaching and learning become the central focus of the school and the central focus of the principal. The emphasis on student learning (the outcome rather than the process of schooling) coupled with federal legislation to that end, has placed more demands on the role of the principal than ever before in our nation’s history. To address the heightened demands on the principal for greater accountability for student learning, The Principalship uses a learning-centered approach, one that emphasizes the role of the principal as the steward of the school’s vision: learning for all. The critical aspects of the teaching-learning process are addressed in our text including teaching; learning; student motivation; individual differences; classroom management; assessing student learning; and developing, maintaining, and changing school culture. In addition, we include in our book several topics not found in many other principalship texts. These topics include school safety, special education, gifted education, bilingual education, nontraditional organizational structures, gender-inclusive theories, women and minorities in the principalship, ethics, the political and policy context, human resource management, ethics, legal issues, and collective bargaining. Our book is documented extensively throughout and grounded in the latest research and theory with suggestions for applying theory to practice. We believe that our text reflects cutting edge research and topical issues facing principals in schools today.