Principals as Literacy Leaders: Case Studies of Leadership with a Purpose

Data from national and international surveys of student achievement in literacy pointed to a recurring problem in Australian schools. Although the overall outcome of these surveys was positive, with the majority of Australian students achieving high standards, a significant minority did not. While it is well documented that within the school, classroom teachers affect student learning outcomes most, no turnaround in the achievement trajectory of students has occurred without the dedicated action of school leaders (Leithwood, Day, Sammons, Harris, Hopkins, 2006). The current paper considers the ongoing Principals as Literacy Leaders (PALL) project and a series of case studies in nine primary schools in two Australian states. The results indicate that the PALL project has had a positive impact on the work of Principals in supporting reading initiatives and that this has helped to improve the quality of teaching reading in primary schools, which in turn has had an impact on student reading achievement.