Whether it is in introducing a creative-leadership team or competency-based learning for early learners, teaching non-cognitive skills such as grit, or recalibrating the approach to assessment to honor student learning, principals must provide strategic direction in leading initiatives schoolwide. Practitioners, researchers, and education leaders of all stripes have contributed their best thinking to this issue.

*This year Principal magazine and Crayola teamed up once again to release another special arts-themed supplement, which includes stories from winners of the 2015-2016 Champion Creatively Alive Children grants.

A Complete and Well-Rounded Education

Skills for Life
How principals can promote social and emotional learning in their schools.
Linda Dusenbury, Roger P. Weissberg, and Duncan C. Meyers

Varied, Layered, & Strategic Assessments
Best practices for ensuring that assessments guide instructional practices and honor student learning in the process.
Susan McLester

The Journey to Mastery
How competency-based learning creates personalized pathways to success for young learners.
Bob Sornson

7 Keys to Elevate Your After-School Program
After-school time adds two hours to the regular school day, time that benefits both struggling and gifted students.
Kim Templeman

The Buzz on Grit & Agency
What you should know before applying the concepts to your school and classrooms.
Alan Richard

FEATURES

Build Deeper Math Foundations
Elementary students need solid math understanding to succeed in middle school and beyond.
T. Spencer Jamieson

Rebuilding School Culture: Supporting Staff and Students Is Key
After tragedy, Newtown, Connecticut, schools focus on learning and helping staff and students find a new sense of normal.

Your Teacher Evaluation Toolkit
Turn to these 6 tactics for thoughtful, constructive evaluations.
Peter DeWitt

IN EVERY ISSUE

From the Editor
Well-Rounded Leadership
—Kaylen Tucker

Snapshots
Nuggets of research, policy, and practice to keep you informed

Member Spotlight
A Maryland Principal on Why She Serves

Practitioner’s Corner
Science Standards: A New Vision
—Jodi Marchesso

Ten to Teen
Social-Emotional To-Dos for Middle Schools
—AiLun Ku

Raising the Bar
What Data-Driven Improvement Really Looks Like
—Mary LeDoux

Parents & Schools
5 Future-Focused Tactics for Parent Communication
—Bibb Hubbard

The Reflective Principal
How Struggling Students Can Soar
—Lynn Owings

Principal’s Bookshelf

Grading from the Inside Out: Bringing Accuracy to Student Assessment Through a Standards-Based Mindset
By Tom Schimmer
— Reviewed by Jennifer Nauman

Schools That Deliver
By John Edwards and Bill Martin
—Reviewed by Kristin Liewehr Bishop

Speaking Out
Missing a Mentor: A Cautionary Tale
—Sandra F. Cummings

It’s the Law
Anti-Muslim Bias?
—Perry A. Zirkel

Postscript
Principals’ Voices Needed
—Gail Connelly