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Whether seasoned or new, school leaders need a clear plan and vision to launch the school year effectively. A strong vision and practical strategies ensure sustainable success.

In the edLeader Panel “Supporting School Leaders: Strategies for Success from Day One,” district leaders and veteran administrators shared strategies for starting the school year with purpose, from onboarding new principals to aligning professional development with instructional goals.

Setting the Tone for a Strong Start

A successful school year begins with clear expectations and objectives. Leaders must communicate a vision and ensure staff feel supported and ready to teach. This sets a positive tone for parents and the community.

Preparation is key: Align professional learning, logistics, and messaging to address needs early. Establish an instructional vision—such as enhancing a literacy program—and rally staff around it from day one to build momentum.

Ask critical questions to guide progress: Can the community lead data teams? Is there infrastructure for leadership teams to monitor implementation? Are clear data protocols in place? Answers to these will shape systems and structure.

Streamline priorities into clear, trackable goals, focusing on key areas like literacy or equity. Consistent, simplified messaging ensures buy-in and aligns leadership levels to keep the shared goal central.

Setting Up for Success

New and veteran administrators need ongoing support, especially in instruction. Grounding them in effective teaching and learning ensures long-term success. Key strategies include:

• Providing resources like pacing guides and assessment calendars to clarify classroom planning and observation expectations
• Setting clear expectations for what students should be doing and what administrators should look for
• Supporting administrators with responsive structures, such as biweekly office hours and assessment updates, to address questions and prevent roadblocks
• Preparing administrators for challenges and encouraging them to lean on colleagues with complementary strengths to balance technical and adaptive leadership

Continuous Professional Development

Administrators must continually build knowledge, especially when supporting subjects outside their expertise. For example, a leader with a biology background observing kindergarten phonemic awareness needs literacy development training to provide valid feedback.

Ongoing professional development—not one-off sessions—is critical. Training equips leaders to act as instructional coaches, using peer coaching, follow-up meetings, and data-driven feedback to drive implementation and equitable outcomes. Advocating for sustained professional development funding is essential for teacher and leader growth, acknowledging the profession’s need for continuous learning.

Supporting Staff

Staff performance and satisfaction reflect engaged, responsive leadership. To support staff effectively:

• Avoid overwhelming teachers by coordinating initiatives and creating clear rollout plans with defined expectations
• Tailor support to staff needs, such as reducing meetings or providing planning time, to manage stress and boost morale
• View resistance as engagement. Lean into feedback and provide clear support and change-management structures to ease transitions

Toward Sustainable Leadership

Leadership changes are inevitable, but successes can endure with preparation. To ensure sustainability:

• Deepen trust and collaboration across roles, creating space for lasting leadership development
• Align practices with research to maintain what works
• Build accountable, interconnected systems, like data and leadership teams, to drive cultural shifts and sustain progress
• Stay true to values, habits, and practices that shape lasting success

Leaders thrive by maintaining consistent messaging, embracing humility, accepting feedback, building capacity, supporting change, following evidence, and ensuring staff have the necessary resources. These practices belong in every leader’s handbook. Above all, staying true to the vision keeps the North Star of success in sight.

Learn more about this edWeb broadcast, Supporting School Leaders: Strategies for Success from Day One, sponsored by Really Great Reading.

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Really Great Reading has been leading the charge in effective Science of Reading strategies for over 18 years with our proven PK-12 curriculum in foundational literacy and intervention teaching methodologies. We turn reading research into classroom practice, ensuring teachers have cutting-edge strategies and tools in classrooms across the country. It is our unwavering commitment to students and educators that sets us apart from other Science of Reading curricula, and this is evident in the student outcomes and results that districts and schools see when using our products.

Article by Michele Israel, based on this edLeader Panel