Pivot and Reset

Topics: Pandemic Leadership

Kaylen Tucker, Ph.D.

This issue of Principal magazine was intended to guide school leaders on how to pivot and reset post-pandemic. We anticipated that, by the fall, questions about masks and the need for virtual learning would be settled, and we would be tackling post-COVID strategies that address learning loss and prioritize school improvement.

But as building-level leaders on the front lines of pandemic schooling, principals are managing rapidly shifting priorities brought on by the lingering effects of the pandemic: reengaging—and, in some cases, locating—students and addressing teacher burnout, to name two.

To put the impact of the pandemic on the principalship in perspective, we have an entire cohort of school leaders who began their principal journey last year. “Pandemic principals” know more than most about the balancing act of blending the traditional domains of principal leadership and solving the unknowns created by COVID-19.

An elusive return to normal has been displaced by a new reality that is poised to impact the future of education and school leadership for many years to come.

In This Issue

Find guidance from the Learning Policy Institute on leveraging COVID-era blended learning strategies to increase equity (Find out how in “Reinvention in Recovery” on page 18). This issue also offers strategies for student attendance, guidance on accelerating learning, ways to partner with parents for student wellness, and more.

And finally, to thank you for your leadership and in recognition of NAESP’s 100th anniversary, we hope that you enjoy the keepsake insert, “A Century of NAESP,” featuring commemorative artwork unveiled at our annual conference in Chicago. We hope that the feature inspires awareness and pride in the work of the principalship for years to come.

Kaylen Tucker, Ph.D. is editor-in-chief of Principal magazine.