How States Can Build Leadership Systems

By David S. Spence & Gene Bottoms

As a nation in the midst of unprecedented, 21st-century economic challenges, we can no longer afford to rely on the luck of the draw to find the leaders our schools need.

We need “learning-centered” school principals—leaders who have a deep understanding of how students learn, not simply how to run a school.

Learning-centered school leaders know how to create a professional environment in which all the adults in a school are constantly improving their own skills and knowledge, and challenging each other to serve the...