Dr. Maccoby participates in a Weekly Forum on Washington Post.com called "On Leadership". I am compiling all of his responses to the weekly questions here.

For education reform, turning our attention to principals

Of all the factors common to successful schools, it is puzzling that so little weight is given to leadership. In the film Waiting for Superman, excellent teaching is rightly given credit as a major factor in student achievement, but there is no discussion of the exceptional principals leading the schools shown.

In the most effective schools I've visited or heard about, principals are academic leaders who support teachers, demand high standards of achievement, maintain discipline and engage parents. The success of the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) schools, such as those shown in the film, rests in large part on a program that develops teachers into principals who then become trusted leaders. Like KIPP, schools in Finland that have produced students with the best test scores in the world are led by principals who have first proved themselves as effective teachers.

In contrast, the principals of failing schools are likely to be administrators, not academic leaders. They neither support teachers nor gain their trust. In their response to leadership, teachers are not so different from other professionals--they're best led by someone who has walked in their shoes. The most effective health-care organizations, such as Mayo Clinic and Kaiser-Permanente, are led by physicians. Lawyers lead law practices. The list goes on. No one suggests bringing in former business managers or army officers to lead these professionals, and it's no better an idea to put them in charge of schools.

In the debate on improving schools, most attention goes to teachers, even though studies show that teaching explains only 10 to 20 percent of student achievement. Although there is no evidence to support it, policymakers believe teachers will perform better if motivated by money. Increasing salaries for teachers may attract more qualified candidates, but it will not motivate teachers to teach better. Dedicated professionals are motivated to perform meaningful work when it is supported, recognized and appreciated.

Instead of throwing money at a discredited, and insulting, theory, let's study the factors common to the best schools and figure out how to replicate them in different contexts. If we do this, it will become clear that developing teachers with leadership ability to become principals will be an essential part of an effective policy.

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