ABSTRACT
The analyses in chapter 4 suggest that the principal has considerable influence over how and how much teachers teach to the test. Where principals support the state’s standards and assessments, teachers spend more time on both short-and long-term test preparation and are more likely to engage in inquiry-oriented instruction in both math and science. That principal support helped to explain teaching practice in more of the analyses in chapter 4 than any other variable illustrates its importance. Yet, these findings suggest some incongruities in the principal’s role. Why for instance does principal support for standards and assessments both encourage short-term test preparation, which is associated with more conventional forms of instruction, but also support inquiry-oriented instruction?
