Principal Matters

By Bess Keller

A joke that's been making the rounds lately among Texas teachers begins: "What does it take to be a high school principal?" The answer? "A graduate degree and a winning football team."

It may be funny, but it's no longer true. The days of principals resting on gridiron victories are gone--especially in Texas, where districts and schools are being held accountable as never before for academic results. Across the country, there's not a hotter seat in all of education than the one in the principal's office.

Nor a more studied one. One reason principals can't get by on the old profile is that some 20 years of research strongly suggest that they make a big difference in shaping the education that goes on in a school. If a school is going to succeed academically, it needs someone whose potential can't be summed...