Leading Out from Low-Performing Schools: The Urban Principal Experience

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The urban principalship has been researched primarily by studying the school context, and not the leadership required to facilitate school improvement. Through a collaborative inquiry process, six principals and two researchers spent almost two years exploring in depth the nature of the urban principalship in turning around low-performing schools. The findings from this inquiry reveal that urban principals must find ways, through trial and error, to improve their schools while surviving in a sometimes hostile district environment that emphasizes reform strategy over leadership capacity-building. Using symbols and metaphors, this paper illustrates the challenges that this poor fit creates for principals as they define their work, are held accountable, lead change, and experience success. It also explores how and in what ways principals persist to lead change creatively despite the punitive consequences they may encounter. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2003 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Chicago, Illinois USA. We thank the discussant, Stephen Jacobson, other panelists, and the audience for their thoughtful questions, which we used to revise this paper. We also thank Caroline Reihl and anonymous reviewers for their careful reading of an earlier version and strategic suggestions. Finally, we thank the other members of the collaborative inquiry leadership seminar for their active contributions in the discussions that are the basis for this paper.