Other initiatives in their school
improvement plan (PDF) included Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), an operational framework for
implementing practices and interventions to improve
academic and behavioral outcomes, and Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), a college readiness system with research - based methods for elementary through postsecondary students.
Research behind VAL - ED (the Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education tool to assess principal performance, developed by researchers at Vanderbilt University) suggests that there are six key steps - or «processes» - that the effective principal takes when carrying out his or her most important leadership responsibilities:
planning,
implementing, supporting, advocating, communicating and monitoring.40 The school leader pressing for high
academic standards would, for example, map out rigorous targets for
improvements in learning (
planning), get the faculty on board to do what's necessary to meet those targets (
implementing), encourage students and teachers in meeting the goals (supporting), challenge low expectations and low district funding for students with special needs (advocating), make sure families are aware of the learning goals (communicating), and keep on top of test results (monitoring).41