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Even Superheroes Need Help

Eight crucial steps for a principal to make shared leadership a reality

By Mel Sussman
February 2018
Vol. 39 No. 1
It’s not clear exactly when school leaders first started wearing an “S” on their chests and began defiantly uttering the phrase, “I can do it all myself!” But after days, weeks, months, or even years of racing wildly from task to task, many a superhero principal has come to the stark realization that nothing could be further from the truth. In most cases, principals who try to raise student achievement through their efforts alone find that they’re not only physically and mentally exhausted, but that they’ve also lost the efficacy needed to succeed. What’s worse, their students are likely to have fallen further and further behind, largely due to a mindset that is both outdated and misguided. Just as it takes a village to raise

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Authors

Mel Sussman

Mel Sussman (msussman@mcrel.org) is a managing consultant at McREL and a former teacher and middle school principal.

References

Marzano, R.J., Waters, T., & McNulty, B.A. (2005). School leadership that works: From research to results. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.


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