ABSTRACT
Outstanding principals know that if they have great teachers, they have a great school; without great teachers, they do not have a great school. All the way from kindergarten through college, the quality of the teachers determines our perceptions of the quality of the school. There are really two ways to improve a school significantly: getting better teachers or improving the teachers one already has. Some people swear by the approach of assertive discipline; others swear at it. The schools and districts, in viewing assertive discipline as either a solution or a problem, lose sight of the critical factor: the teacher. Teachers in the more effective principals’ schools reported that their leaders encouraged and supported individual staff development. Ineffective principals paid much less attention to individual growth. Instead, they focused their efforts on whole-school goals and issues. Ineffective teachers and leaders consistently think they can force or bribe others to do what they want.
