During a recent weeklong professional learning, I asked the principals sitting at my table what specific instructional priorities they would have for the upcoming school year. When pressed on what that vision might entail, some drew a blank, offering instead generic personal goals such as “being more intentional” and “finding joy in the work.”
Education has developed a penchant for adding layers of complexity around the core work of schools: teaching students. So much so that schools often begin the year with more priorities than their systems have the capacity to implement well.
According to researchers Eileen Lai Horng, Daniel Klasik, and Susanna Loeb, a principal spends only 10 percent of their day on instruction-related tasks in a normal work week. Instead, the majority of their time is split among overseeing student services, managing budgets, and dealing with student-discipline issues. Yet, research consistently finds that effective principals have the capacity to improve student learning outcomes.
In this biweekly column, principals and other authorities on school leadership—including researchers, education professors, district administrators, and assistant principals—offer timely and timeless advice for their peers.
So, what makes an effective principal? A 2021 study from researchers Jason A. Grissom, Anna J. Egalite, and Constance A. Lindsay concluded that replacing a principal in the lowest quartile of effectiveness with one in the top quartile can boost student learning by nearly three additional months every year in both reading and math. They found that the strongest leaders prioritize their time in four main areas: undertaking regular instruction-focused work with teachers, shaping a positive school climate, boosting teacher collaboration, and managing personnel and resources wisely.
While essential, instructional coaching and feedback require a level of instructional expertise that many principals struggle to prioritize. Some of the very competing priorities administrators face could be avoided if they spent more time on improving instructional practice in the first place.
Decades of classroom-management research suggests that student engagement, clear expectations, and effective instruction are among the strongest predictors of productive classroom environments. Well-structured classrooms mean fewer behavior problems administrators have to tackle throughout the school week. When an administrator doesn’t start the year with a focus on instruction, they shouldn’t be surprised when teachers spend another school year chasing nebulous priorities instead of improving their practice.
This is not to suggest that principals can become an expert in every standard, curriculum, or instructional strategy. Good administrators lean on the expertise of others to deepen their knowledge—but they also must know how to identify and reinforce effective practices. Principal feedback is a primary mechanism for improving classroom instruction and, ultimately, student achievement.
When instruction isn’t the focus, we find every excuse to stay out of the very classrooms where the real work is happening. The most common culprit is meetings, which are often necessary for compliance purposes. However, improving core instruction can reduce some of the reactive workload created by ineffective instruction—such as special education referrals, intervention cycles, and reactive conversations with families.
I often hear administrators say teachers resist instructional change. And sometimes, they most certainly do. But frequently, what we call resistance is actually a lack of clarity, confidence, or support. Before we blame teachers for resisting change, leaders need to ask themselves a few hard questions: Did we clearly identify the instructional problem we were trying to solve? Did we choose a priority that was connected to student learning? Did teachers understand the why behind the change? Did we give them time to learn, practice, receive feedback, and refine their implementation?
As we settle into the very real fact that the summer is coming to a close and students begin bounding back into our buildings, it’s time we took stock of what instructional priorities will be the backbone of our school year. Sustainable improvement of any kind requires deliberate practice, coaching, feedback, time—and above all—focus. Schools improve when leaders protect the instructional core from the constant competition for their attention. Be willing to enter the school year with an instructional plan and let that plan point toward what is demonstrably best for the students in your building.
Don’t make the mistake of starting the year without a clear priority. And if that focus is not connected to improving instruction and ultimately student outcomes, ask yourself whether it is worthy of your—and your teachers’—time.
