Effective school leadership is widely acknowledged as having a positive impact on student achievement. However, there appears to be no deliberate process to sustain New Zealand principals' effectiveness throughout their careers. This article discusses the views of current and former New Zealand secondary school principals about their complex role…

The long-running National Survey of Schools project is part of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research's (NZCER's) Te Pae Tawhiti programme of research, funded through the Ministry of Education. NZCER has run a national survey of secondary schools every 3 years since 2003. As part of the 2022 National Survey of Secondary Schools, we…

Every year, an average of 20% of schools replace their principals. This book will inform and enhance the process of recruiting new personnel with its insights and practical suggestions for a successful search. This book also offers current thinking and research to help school boards and policy makers retain the professional leaders they have. This…

This review provides a synthesis of research from the past decade on beginning principals and the professional supports they access to cope with role-related demands. The synthesis is based on empirical research studies conducted from the perspectives of beginning principals and contributes to the knowledge base on principal wellbeing and…

Judgements of the work of school principals may be formal through an appraisal process or informal from students, teachers, parents, and members of the community in which the school operates. This article focuses on New Zealand rural primary school principals' experiences of informal expectations--and judgements about whether they meet these…

Around 600 schools have used the free, research-based Teaching, School and Leadership Practices (TSP) survey since it was first offered in 2017. This brief report is based on interviews with 10 principals who've used TSP three years in a row. The report shows the principals find it informs their own development and appraisal, identifies priorities…

Novice principals' experiences and responses to challenges are important for understanding their sensemaking of their role, especially in view of the contextual complexity of leadership in small schools. Using interview data from 19 novice principals in small schools, we explore principals' sensemaking of their key challenges and responses.…

Effective strategic planning is an integral part of a principal's role, but this is a skill for which many principals are largely unprepared. The Springboard Trust's Strategic Leadership for Principals Programme (SLPP) is a 10-month leadership development programme for principals in New Zealand. Participants must have 2 years of experience as a…

Leading change that promotes social justice requires courage and conviction. Drawing on identity theory, insights from a New Zealand case study show how two principals found their leadership identity challenged as they resolved issues arising from social disadvantage. The programs they developed to enhance pastoral care, behavior management, and…

Purpose: To explore the insights of adults and children at a New Zealand primary school adopting nonlinear pedagogical approaches to physical education (PE). Methods: This case study was conducted at a single primary school and utilized a qualitative methods design, including interviews or focus groups with the principal, five teachers, and four…

All children in Aotearoa New Zealand have the right to enrol in and receive a quality, inclusive education. Despite this, a recent report by the Education Review Office (ERO, 2022), the government's external education evaluation agency, identified numerous ways in which disabled akonga are excluded from and within the education system. This…

The "Teaching, School, and Principal Leadership Practices Survey" (TSP) was developed to give schools robust data about key practices that research has shown are worth paying attention to because of their direct and indirect effects on student learning. Drawing the data together from all participants schools in any given year creates a…

School principals were required to engage in crisis leadership throughout New Zealand's first COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown that began in March 2020. Eighteen school principals from a range of secondary schools were interviewed about their experiences and the findings of this study are discussed in relation to the leadership capability framework…

2019 was the third year that the Teaching, School, and Principal Leadership Practices Survey (TSP) was available for free use by schools. The questions in this survey draw on a strong body of evidence about effective practices. The TSP asks teachers and principals to rate how often a practice occurs or how well the practice is done. This 2019…

Many studies claim the importance of goal-setting for school improvement but few outline specific practices. This study highlights specific goal-setting practices associated with successful school improvement efforts. It reports on a 2-year collaborative research project, which closely examined three principals' goal-setting practices in the…