Policy Focus Turning to Principal Quality

Washington

The spotlight that has focused on ways of measuring and rewarding teacher effectiveness may now be turning to school principals.

The Center for American Progress released a report this week on reforming principal compensation , while the National Association of Secondary School Principals published guidelines for evaluating effective principals . Calls to create voluntary national certification for principals that first surfaced more than five years ago also are being renewed.

Such efforts are being driven in part by concerns that Congress will define a “highly qualified principal,” just as it has a “highly qualified teacher,” when it reauthorizes the No...