School Leadership in Support of Teachers' Learning: The Dramatic Differences That Financial Resources Make

Abstract

This article reports creative initiatives that 25 U.S. principals employed to support teacher learning in light of their financial resources. Nearly 90 hours of interviews with principals and 60 documents were coded to create narrative summaries and build profiles of how financial resources influenced how the school leaders supported teacher learning. All of the leaders worked creatively with the resources at hand to enhance teacher learning. Our research highlights that the best options are context specific and that shorter-term initiatives are insufficient. This report offers concrete examples, such as grantwriting and local partnerships, for working within financial constraints to support teacher learning.