Launching Your First Principalship: A Guide for Beginning Principals

by Barbara L. Brock, Marilyn L. Grady

"I couldn′t put the bookt down, and I′ve been a principal for 24 years. The information is excellent for all individuals interested in the principalship."
Denny Vincent, Principal
Muhlenberg North High School, Greenville, KY

"Brock and Grady present a realistic glimpse of the issues that principals must deal with, either knowingly, or unfortunately, unknowingly. This book can help principals avoid the latter."
Mike Parnell, Principal
Carrollton High School, Carrollton, MO

Be the leader you want to be with this always-on-hand mentor!

Whether you are an aspiring principal, a first-year principal, or a veteran administrator, this invaluable resource can help you hone your leadership skills, reduce your stress, improve your communication, manage your time and your staff, resolve your conflicts, and maximize your leadership potential.

Replete with confidence-boosting tips and tools, this practical guide covers everything from interviewing and accepting the position, to experiencing the first days and end of the school year, and beyond. It offers first-hand insights from new and seasoned principals that provide not only a source of comfort, but also a wealth of ideas to help you to avoid common mistakes and become a highly effective, visionary leader.

Here are just a few of the user-friendly

Models for leadership, conflict resolution, and stress management Staff and community relations tips Helpful strategies for managing your time and your staff Help with beginning and ending your school year effectively "The Principal′s Key," a comprehensive, yet succinct, summary of each chapter Checklists, assessment tools, plus resources focusing on interviewing and the selection process

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 2003

About the author

Barbara L. Brock is a professor of education at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.

She earned a bachelor of arts degree in art education from Briar Cliff University, a master of arts with a specialty in school administration from Creighton University, and a doctorate in administration, curriculum, and instruction from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Reviews

[Kade MacNeille · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book I have read as part of my Master's in Ed Leadership. It is concise and contains very useful examples from a variety of new administrators.

[Nicole T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't let my rating fool you. It's definitely a great roadmap for aspiring and/or brand new administrators and principals. Even as a supervisor, I found the book to be a great reinforcer, and it provided reassurance in my capabilities as a leader. All of our discussions in my educational leadership graduate course were reiterated in this book. I found the Table of Contents to be extremely useful as it lays out exactly what to be thinking about when taking on a new leadership role in outline form. Everything the book includes is relevant and useful. The reason for it not receiving more stars is because it was written in 2004 and does not address new evaluation systems and other hot issues recently being implemented in schools. The role of a principal as an instructional leader is stressed in the book, but the real definition has grown to encompass so much more in the past several years.