Principals and Teachers Can’t Do It All: Other Factors that Impact the Success of Students and Schools

Today, the entire success of a school seems to be the responsibility of the principal and the teachers. The thesis of this book is that principals and teachers can only take a school so far because of other factors that also impact on the success or failure of a school: (1) Federal, state, local and district regulations and policies; (2) the physical plant and location of the school; (3) parents; (4) students; (5) the non-teaching staff. The book explores all these, but also has an underlying theme: Money

It is a cliche that if a school has more money, it will have better results. Monies allocated to education do have an impact, but poverty level and income inequality have an equal if not greater impact on school success on the national, state and local levels. Principals and teachers have absolutely no control on poverty and income inequality which negatively impact schools regardless of how dedicated and hard-working the pedagogical staff.

After exploring the other factors impacting on school success, the book will look at teachers and principals, not from the viewpoint of what they can do, but the viewpoint of their limitations. Much of this is economic, leading to high staff turnover and therefore a lack of continuity in a school.