This volume examines how effective instructional leadership by principals and other school administrators is affected by their own knowledge and beliefs about learning, teaching, and subject matter. Using mathematics as a subject focus, the authors examine several specific aspects of instructional leadership, such as teacher supervision and classroom observation, curriculum selection, and student assessment. Nelson and Sassi provide detailed portraits of administrators at work, illuminating key decision-making situations and the actions they choose to take. This important volume:

• Looks at a new image of the school principal, one that is tied more closely to learning and teaching.
• Discusses what instructional leaders need to know about subject matter in order to discharge their responsibility effectively in the current climate of standards and accountability.
• Presents the voices of elementary school principals as they develop new ideas and work to connect these ideas to their administrative practice.
• Examines how principals view themselves as on-the-job learners, how they work with teachers, and how they perceive their roles within the broader organizational and political context.
• Offers important implications for mathematics education, educational policy, and school improvement.

Barbara Scott Nelson is Senior Scientist and Director of the Center for the Development of Teaching at the Education Development Center, Inc, Newton, Massachusetts. Annette Sassi is a Research Associate at Education Matters, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts