Ivy's principal identifies building culture and relationships as his foremost leadership responsibility for student learning¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · qualitative r1 · q1
Currency · newest study 2019 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2022: local conditions change quickly

Subclaims¶

q1 i? Ivy's principal describes maintaining a caring, nurturing culture and building relationships with teachers, students, and the community as the number-one job of a principal supporting student learning. → Elaine Allensworth 2019

Evidence¶

Elaine Allensworth 2019¶

Elaine Allensworth. (2019). Elementary School Case Studies. University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/how-do-principals-influence-student-achievement

q1 · i? · qualitative · r1

Interview statement from Principal Walker in the Ivy case study. He describes the school's caring culture focused on supporting students, where teachers give advice "not to complain about them", and says culture has a big impact through signs, displays, and interactions.

"The principal job is relationships. There’s so much involved with relationships. You can be really smart; you can be able to analyze things really well, but it’s a people job."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The modern principal's job has expanded from administrative oversight to instructional leadership and staff collaboration — related
• Female principals enacted care through a 'listening then deciding' pattern of situational decision making — related
• Female principals empowered others through shared ownership, committee involvement, and staff development — related
• Female principals maintained autonomy and connectedness despite hierarchical bureaucratic structures, and reported no isolation — related
• The ethic of care was found in all three female principals studied, expressed in teaching, learning, dedication to students, and child-centered schools — related
• Ivy Elementary staff jointly monitor progress toward goals in team meetings and organize tiered supports for students — related
• The principals' personal ethic of care, rooted in motherhood, transferred to their professional leadership roles — related
• Schools enlisted all staff, including non-instructional staff, as communication resources, opening additional school-family channels — related
• At Ivy Elementary, teachers lead grade-level goal setting and participate in school-level decisions, with the principal empowering staff — related
• High-performing CHSRI schools shared four practices for guiding and sustaining instructional improvement: defining leadership responsibilities, creatively distributing them, institutionalizing routines, and focusing team work on school-wide goals — related
• Schools with distinct educational models show positive achievement effects when they feature small size, personalization, positive relationships, and educator collaboration — related
• Schools where staff maintain strong relationships and collaborate frequently are more effective in supporting student learning and well-being, and collaboration and teacher leadership approaches contribute to staff retention — related
• School designs supporting caring, continuous student-teacher relationships better address trauma and strengthen achievement than traditional factory-model schools — related
• School improvement is related to staff interactions, staff relationships with families, and ties to the broader school community — related