The First Year as Principal: Real World Stories from America's Principals

By Ronald Thorpe

Book Overview

In The First Year as Principal , thirty principals who are true instructional leaders share their stories with anyone considering a career in school leadership or looking to understand better what school leadership requires. As a whole, the essays tell a broader story that in one way or another has something to say to every school leader and to all who care about schools.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0435081276
• ISBN13: 9780435081270
• Release Date: November 1995
• Publisher: Heinemann
• Length: 110 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.3" x 6.0"
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 12

Customer Reviews

Stories from the field.

The book presents a collection of stories from various principals in various types of school organizational structures. The individual chapters vary highly in their content and their form of review. It includes everything from specific incidents to general perceptions of the first year. The book is not organized into themes or categorized at all. The somewhat disappointing element is that some of the stories are dated. A number of the individual views are from seasoned administrators looking back many years later. This can vary the perceptions and accuracy of a true first year experience. It can also make it less of a reflection of the office as it is currently.Another, and even better choice, is "New Voices in the Field" which provides current inside stories within a well organized and researched framework.

Relief for those in Principal roles

These excellent stories will support any new principal entering the profession. Stories are written by existing principals, commenting on the challenges of leadership in public schools, what they found, how they handled crisis, and how they survived that first year. Readers who are in the profession will realize that they are not alone in their day to day struggles to keep student learning a primary goal.