Leaders, Please Report to the Principal's Office: Today's principal is less a school boss and more a supportive leader.

• Author: Idrees, Ashley
• Position: EDUCATION

It's easy to remember our favorite teachers, but can you recall a favorite principal?

Despite its importance to a school's success, a principal's work is not always visible. Principals' responsibilities run the gamut from administering budgets, overseeing facilities and coordinating fire drills to monitoring student achievement and supporting the teachers who might become a student's favorite.

Traditionally, the principal's role has been to project authority, assert power and carry out discipline. Today, principals are synonymous with leadership, instructional support and student advocacy. They are responsible for all who enter their buildings and are expected to create and maintain an environment and culture reflective of their school's mission.

Leadership matters, and good principals have a direct, positive correlation to student learning and growth, as research from The Wallace Foundation has shown. But, at a time when school leaders are needed more than ever, principal turnover is increasing.

Turnover Hurts Kids

As a recent MIT study explains, low-achieving and high-poverty schools tend to have higher rates of principal turnover. "Given research linking leadership turnover to negative impacts on student performance, policy attention to strategies aimed at keeping effective principals in high-need environments may yield large dividends," the report stated. For the sake of their students, it's imperative that leaders in high-needs areas get the support they need to stay on the job.

The MIT study shows that, with a focus on best practices, appropriate hiring and placement, and supportive evaluation, districts can mold leaders who transform schools, enhancing the growth of teachers and students alike. If principals are supported from the start of their training through their leadership in practice, they are more successful. And when they succeed, they are less likely to leave their jobs.

"I think effective leadership is key," says North Carolina Representative Hugh Blackwell (R), a member of NCSL's Education Policy Working Group. "Teachers deserve a leader who understands what is needed in the classroom and a leader who can support them in appropriate instruction. With this strong support system, teachers are motivated and enabled to lead their students to successful educational outcomes."

Principal Pipelines

To develop leaders with those skills, The Wallace Foundation, one of the leaders in educational research, launched the five-year, $85...