Notable quotes: Spotlight on principals

"Principals must live with paradox: They must have a sense of urgency about improving their schools, balanced by the patience to sustain them for the long haul. They must focus on the future, but remain grounded in today. They must see the big picture, while maintaining a close focus on details. They must be strong leaders who give away power to others."

-- Richard DuFour, "Help Wanted: Principals who can Lead Professional Learning Communities." NASSP Bulletin (1999).

"Principals who get and keep good teachers for their schools, principals who rid their schools of persistently ineffective teachers and programs, principals who tirelessly seek to build collaboration and consensus among the faculty, principals who consistently engage their faculties in analysis and discussions about student learning, and principals who demand and support improvements in teachers' pedagogy -- these are the leaders teachers are seeking."

- Hayes Mizell, director of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation's Program for Student Achievement

"State and local education systems must abandon the century-old model of the principal as a middle manager directly responsible for every aspect of school operations and performance. Instead, they must explore new arrangements of managing building operations, such as through outsourcing and team leadership strategies. New models of the principalship -- and there are sure to be multiple models emerging to accommodate various schools' needs -- must revolve around leadership for learning."

-- Institute for Educational Leadership, "Reinventing the Principalship" (2000).

Supporting school leaders will be the focus of the May/June issue of Leadership magazine. Articles on professional development and other forms of support for new and veteran administrators are welcome. The deadline is Feb. 26. For more information call Susan Davis at (800) 890-0325, or e-mail sdavis@acsa.org