Effective leadership is a vital ingredient in successful school improvement. But according to the authors of this article, “The data about educational leadership paints a stark picture of the challenge facing education today.”

Here’s an analogy the authors use to help convey the level of urgency involved …

Imagine reading the following in a Monday morning news article: “In Congressional testimony today, researchers uncovered that 90% of current doctors feel they are responsible for everything that happens to patients, and 75% feel their job has become too complex. At least half of current doctors feel under great stress several days a week. Roughly 20% of doctors leave each year, half of the doctors will leave their position within four years, and the rates are considerably higher in low-income communities. Each turnover costs the organization $75,000. Roughly 70% of the traditional pipeline for doctors has no interest in assuming the position; the largest group now in that pipeline has only one year of experience. All of this is occurring as medicine implements its most ambitious increase in quality standards and accountability in decades.”  

Since effective solutions are seldom possible without a clear understanding of the problem, it’s a message well worth repeating.