What Great Principals Do Differently (Todd Whitaker, 2003)

Best Practices of Award-Winning Elementary School Principals (Sandra Harris, 2005)

Big idea

Todd Whitaker opens by sharing with us, “The difference between more effective principals and their less effective colleagues is not what they know. It is what they do. Clarifying what the best leaders do, and then practicing it ourselves, can move us into their ranks.” (Pg. 1) Through several formal research studies, years of consulting work in hundreds of schools, and his own experience as a school principal, Dr. Whitaker has sifted and sorted the behaviors and actions of many school leaders – and identified those that set the great principals apart.

Written initially as a resource for new principals and their mentors, Sandra Harris has compiled a collection of “best practices” that have helped principals build effective elementary schools. Award-winning principals from a variety of schools and settings responded to Dr. Harris’ requests by sending their own reflections, ideas, strategies, and experiences. This is, by all accounts, an assemblage of ideal approaches to the principalship, submitted by the acknowledged great principals.

Format

In between an introductory chapter and a conclusion chapter, Dr. Whitaker strings together 15 “meat” chapters, each identifying and highlighting the activities and approaches that great principals do. It is here that Dr. Whitaker’s research and insights reveal themselves in a series of clear, understandable chapters.

Dr. Harris leaps directly into the six major categories into which the principals’ submissions fell: Leadership, Shaping campus culture, Collaborating and communicating, Effective instructional programs, School improvement plans, and At-risk programs. She finishes with some additional input and some resources (quotes and recommended readings) before adding her own conclusion.

Examples

“It’s people, not programs.” Right out of the chute, Dr. Whitaker shares that great principals recognize that the true strength of schools is in their personnel. He follows with chapters discussing how great principals “teach the teachers,” “hire great teachers,” and “make every decision based on the best teachers.” Beyond human resources, Dr. Whitaker also addresses some of the key behaviors that effective principals demonstrate, such as “making it cool to care” and “treating everyone with respect.”

In her conclusion, Dr. Harris identifies three themes that “resonated in every response at some point” (pg. 170): We, not me; People, not programs; and Students, not schools. These spoke to the degree to which great principals selflessly give themselves to the students and personnel of their schools, and showed up everywhere, from Exerta Mackie’s contribution entitled “Not the boss…the leader” (pg. 22) to Scott Hollinger’s “Trashbusters” (pg. 125).

Strengths

The simplicity with which Dr. Whitaker presents the 15 elements makes this an effective, straightforward edition. The chapters are short, succinct, and include quick examples and brief explanations – this is not the type of book that a reader will labor through. Rather, it can serve as a handy resource for principals or other educators to refer to, highlight, dog-ear, and review on a regular basis.

If you are seeking ideas to implement this coming school year, this text has a veritable cornucopia of examples to blend into your school. The true beauty of this resource is that it comes straight from the heads and mouths of the truly great, award-winning principals. Dr. Harris has put together a fine version of great ideas that we can all emulate and implement.