Every School Can Have a Great Principal: A Fresh Vision for How

Published on Education Next, April 21, 2016 By Emily Ayscue Hassel and Bryan Hassel 

Great teachers matter—we all know that. But great principals matter nearly as much. We recently profiled three principals who achieved strong student learning growth in their schools in tough circumstances. Forming and leading a team of teacher-leaders proved crucial to all. But then what?

Can great principals take their leadership to the next level and stay connected to teachers and students? Could they reach all schools, not just the fraction they reach today?

We asked just that, and here’s our answer: yes.

In An Excellent Principal for Every School: Transforming Schools into Leadership Machines, we share our vision for how districts and charter networks can reach a lot more students and teachers—potentially all—with great principals, for much higher pay, within regular budgets.

You might recognize this concept, since we’ve floated—and implemented—similar ideas with teachers in Opportunity Culture® schools in several states already (including unionized districts). We’ve now extended our thinking to principals…

Read the complete blog post here.

Keep Learning

Educators get first-hand look at ECISD Opportunity Culture

From Odessa American, by Ruth Campbell, November 7, 2024 Now in its fifth year of implementing Opportunity Culture, Ector County ISD got some visitors from across the state and country Thursday to see how it’s done. Educators from Florida and Fort Worth and officials...

MISD welcomes visitors to highlight strategic staffing initiative

From Odessa American, November 7, 2024 School district leaders from across Texas were in Midland Wednesday to observe Midland ISD's successful implementation of Opportunity Culture. The visit included campus tours, observing classrooms at South Elementary and Alamo...