Bringing Out the Best in Teachers: What Effective Principals Do

by Joseph J. Blase, Peggy C. Kirby

The third edition of this bestseller offers first-person accounts from teachers who share the influential strategies of outstanding principals who empowered them.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published November 20, 1991

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure: co-author Peggy Kirby is a friend and colleague of mine.
With that said, I thought this book was a straightforward and helpful account of several practices of successful principals. It's hard to argue with most of them, and everything is presented clearly. I'd like even more practicality and implementation tips (as found in the very helpful Leverage Leadership) but the book provides a strong foundation of principles for principals.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book really had a common sense approach and it was an easy read. I cannot say that I walked away enlightened by it. I much preferred the 10 Traits book for good suggestions. Blase and Kirby stated that they filled a gap in the current research, but I think there was a lot of 'arm chair' research within those 168 pages.

[John Byrnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clearcut methods grounded in teacher interviews help mediate the self help feel of descriptions of leader behavior. A wealth of citation and description give fast context to advice about cincrete methods of impacting educational reform.

[Mikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Valid points made, but just way too dry. It was basically a case study of teacher relationships with principals.