Author's abstract and keywords: Georgia high school principals are under extreme pressure to meet new education standards through No Child Left Behind, such as ensuring and improving teacher quality, meeting and exceeding state mandated testing, increasing graduation and graduation rates, and meeting adequate yearly progress (AYP). The role of principal is important in an effective school where student achievement is occurring. The perceived implications of the principals. roles may also impact how efficiently they can improve student achievement in their schools. Principals. perceptions of their roles, and their perceived changes in their roles, may have an effect on how they address achievement in their school. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of Georgia high school principals. awareness and perceptions of their role in addressing the requirements of NCLB who had been in that position at least 5 to 7 years. A qualitative method was used to conduct the research. Procedures for this study involved employing a research instrument of 10 questions designed to elicit responses relating to three research sub-questions. The researcher interviewed five Georgia high school principals, one principal recently retired from public education. The study allowed the participants to articulate their experiences as they reflected upon the impact of NCLB on their roles as high school principals and how their roles evolved over their tenures. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded for recurring patterns and themes by the researcher. This information supports the conclusion that the requirements of NCLB mandates have had an impact on the role of Georgia high school principals in the selected regions. Principals have seen an evolution in their roles and responsibilities since the law has been enacted. Therefore, the answer to the overarching question is that Georgia high school principals are aware of their roles and perceive that NCLB mandates have affected their roles and responsibilities by requiring them to rely on their human relations and communications skills in developing teacher leaders and being more data driven in their instructional leadership. This research points to a definite evolution in the role of the high school principals studied as a result of NCLB.

Author's abstract: The study explored the perceptions of the Georgia elementary principals as high-stakes testing is utilized in the theme of accountability. The study examined 335 principals personal and professional demographics and perceptions of the implementation of high-stakes testing. The study employed a descriptive, survey approach to address the research questions. A self-designed survey questionnaire was developed to explore principals perception of high-stakes testing, and included both a qualitative and quantitative orientation. Findings indicated that the majority of the 335 Georgia elementary principals who responded to the survey were 46-55 year old females who worked in suburban areas of the state. They typically held the Education Specialist degree, have an average of two years of experience as principal, and made AYP for the 2005-06 school year. Respondents believed that they could use high-stakes testing results to improve student achievement. At the same time, the principals expressed concern that factors beyond the control of the principal influenced student achievement yet were not considered with the findings from the test results. 2 Principals supported the purpose of high-stakes testing as the improvement of student achievement and indicated that although the results were consistently used for that purpose high-stakes testing did not improve education for all students. A majority of principals indicated that high-stakes testing appropriately held them accountable for student achievement as measured by the tests, but did not evaluate their school leadership abilities.

This volume provides a succinct up-to-date summary of global research on principal instructional leadership as it has evolved over the past 50 years. The book’s particular focus is on the development and use of the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS). The PIMRS is the most widely used survey instrument designed for assessing instructional leadership for research and practice. It has been used in more than 250 studies in more than 30 countries around the world. The authors provide a detailed conceptual and data-based description of the rationale and development of the instrument as well as the ways in which it has been used in practice. The book also provides, for the first time, a comprehensive assessment of the scale’s measurement properties. This represents essential information for future users of the instrument across different national contexts. Finally, the volume outlines an agenda for improving future research on the role of principal instructional leadership in student learning and school effectiveness.

Author's abstract: Academic standards have come to occupy center stage in public schools to guide teachers in their instruction, and they have become the means by which teachers assess students’ performance. With more emphasis placed on student performance and higher test scores, states have come to rely dramatically on them to raise educational standards. Their introduction also has prompted outside entities such as the federal and state governments and corporations to become involved in public education. While not direct, their involvement has also influenced how academic standards are developed and implemented in public schools. In this sense, governments and corporations have introduced economic models in public schools, changing the process of how schools function, what teachers teach, and how students’ performance is measured. In the state of Georgia, the introduction of state academic standards came as a result of compliance with federal guidelines. The implementation of academic standards like the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) brought changes in education such as students having to know specific material to pass standardized tests, and teachers being compelled to teach verbatim what the standards said to teach. The end result was that the rigidity and strict alignment to the GPS affected teachers’ perception of power in their instruction in negative ways. The purpose of this study was to investigate how teachers’ power in their instructional practices was affected by the GPS. The methodology used in this study was a qualitative design and was guided by a series of interviews of teachers at a high school in East Georgia. The data collected was audio-recorded and examined by using two methods of analysis: inductive analysis to allow emerging themes to develop from individual interviews and cross-case analysis to identify emerging themes and patterns from multiple sets of data. The analysis of the data involved coding and organizing it into common patterns and themes to make a holistic report.