In This Issue

Abstract

Highly effective school leaders focus on learning and the impact of teaching. They empower teachers and other instructional personnel to support learning and create a positive learning culture where everyone learns and works together on behalf of students. They apply best practices to student learning. Articles in this issue of Bulletin offer unique ideas for principals to consider as they think about their work. It is my hope that readers will find new perspectives on how schooling can be improved and how the exercise of leadership influences this improvement. Principals have been challenged with the impact of Covid-19 on students’ academic and mental well-being. In the lead article, researchers Pincus, Hannor-Walker, TeShaunda, Wright, and Justice highlight the importance of using school counselors to provide mental health counseling assisting with the social and emotional needs of students during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors offer practical applications and useful strategies that secondary principals can employ to create a systemic approach for social and emotional prevention and intervention during and after the pandemic. The second article also casts a spotlight on some of the changes in schooling brought about by the onset of the corona-virus pandemic. In particular, due to the transition to online learning, educators have been compelled to rethink how they grade and report learning. One alternative grading approach that educators have considered is standards-based grading (SBG). In this study, researchers Guskey, Townsley, and Buckley sought to determine if the implementation of SBG in high school classes affects students’ transition to university learning environments. Findings suggest that high schools in the sample were not implementing SBG with high levels of fidelity. However, to the extent SBG was being implemented, there was no evidence that the practice was having a negative impact on students’ transition to higher education. Principals will find the discussion instructive and beneficial for leveraging standardsbased grading as a clearer description of students’ performance by separating achievement and non-cognitive factors.