Countdown to the Principalship

How Successful Principals Begin Their School Year

Tom Bellamy, Jackie Provenzano, Anne O' Rourke

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781138138209
• eBook ISBN: 9781317923268
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This book displays tools and templates for planning, organizing, and monitoring a beginning principal's daily tasks.

1

The Framework
for School Leadership
Accomplishments

Congratulations! You are now a principal! You have the opportunity to provide leadership for your own school! Staff, parents, students, your school community, and your district believe that you have what it takes to move this school forward. It is a good thing that you are equal to the task because you are already 6 months behind!

Not to worry… You have a sound foundational knowledge base. You have worked diligently to build your skills tool box. You are learning more each day about your new school community. Now it is time to apply the important information you have learned. This Resource Guide contains tools that you can quickly use to help you prioritize and address essential work that you need to do.

How this Resource Guide Is Organized
to Help New Principals

This book is designed to help new principals during the important period between appointment to the position and the first weeks of school. Most new principals come to their positions with a well-developed vision of what a school should be like. Years of experience as a teacher and teacher leader typically have helped new principals frame clear goals toward which they want to lead their schools and core values that they hope will guide their actions. They also know that first impressions are powerful, and that the plans made before their first year as principal can have long-lasting consequences.

Reality strikes quickly for new principals. Most are immediately immersed in literally hundreds of practical details to make sure that they and their schools are ready for the launch of a new year. Even for those fortunate principals who are named to their positions with a few months to plan, this is a very busy time with little room for reflection about vision and values. Countdown to the Principalship is intended to help during this critical period by combining practical advice with a conceptual model that links daily details with larger goals.

This chapter provides two tools for using the book. First, we introduce you to the Framework for School Leadership Accomplishments to help you organize your thinking about your work as a school principal. Second, we provide a template to assist you in creating your personal Entry Plan.

Chapters 2 through 10 address important tasks for principals and contain ready-to-use ideas and examples for your use. Each chapter highlights one accomplishment area from the Framework for School Leadership Accomplis...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Meet the Authors
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• List of Downloadable Templates on Our Website
• 1 The Framework for School Leadership Accomplishments
• 2 Accomplishment: Defining Learning Goals
• 3 Accomplishment: Providing Instruction
• 4 Accomplishment: Sustaining Student Climate
• 5 Accomplishment: Providing Related Services
• 6 Accomplishment: Mobilizing Resources
• 7 Accomplishment: Organizing and Supporting School Operations
• 8 Accomplishment: Supporting Staff
• 9 Accomplishment: Supporting School Renewal
• 10 Accomplishment: Sustaining Family and Community Partnerships
• Appendix: Accomplishments and School Leadership: Three Key Benefits
• References and Resources
• Index