From the Editor: Leading Lessons on Engagement

By Kaylen Tucker
Principal, September/October 2018. Volume 98, Number 1.

In the decade I have been contributing to and editing NAESP’s Principal magazine, building a positive school culture and fostering strong relationships have remained essential traits for principal leadership and school success. Without these interlaced competencies, principals can struggle to impact school improvement or any other schoolwide initiative that requires strong engagement from multiple stakeholders.

To help principals cultivate an engaged leadership style, Principal magazine is delivering a new resource that administrators can use to strengthen bonds, build professional culture, and put the new research, best practices, and leadership strategies that are the magazine’s hallmark to work.

Principal magazine is proud to present Leading Lessons, a series designed to help practitioners take their learning into action and develop stronger leadership teams. This turn-key tool can be used as a professional guide with assistant principals, teacher leaders, or an entire school staff.

The first installment, “Creating a Climate for Change,” is contributed by noted educator Jon Saphier, founder and president of Research for Better Teaching Inc., a professional development organization dedicated to improving classroom teaching and school leadership. Principals can use “Creating a Climate for Change” with their leadership teams to explore potential solutions to common challenges such as improving student attendance or developing a schoolwide culture of literacy. The pullout guide is affixed to Saphier’s accompanying article, “Leading for Change,” which explains why principals need to establish buy-in for new initiatives (page 36).

You can pull the guide out of the magazine and use it to plan your next leadership team or staff meeting. Leading Lessons will be produced regularly, so please take the time to let me know how you are using it with your staff.

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