Although curriculum decisions are often made at the district level, principals are responsible for the individual programs run in their school. For example, Walk to Read is a popular reading intervention strategy that many schools are employing today to improve their students' reading comprehension. The decision to implement this program and the overall success of this program ultimately falls on the shoulders of the building principal. Principals have the ability to allocate staff and resources to run building-specific programs, and they are judged on the performance of the programs they implement in their yearly evaluation.
When it comes to student achievement, the buck stops with the leader of the school. Principals and schools are judged on how well their students perform on local, state and national standardized tests. Schools that routinely fail to meet standards often see a change in leadership. In addition to ensuring students' safety, principals are expected to improve student achievement as well, through their program and staffing decisions. Principals see to it that staff members receive adequate training in instructional strategies, and that their staff members are employing best teaching practices in their day-to-day teaching.
In most cases, principals have the final say on potential candidates who come to work at their school. Principals are also held accountable for performing regularly scheduled evaluations of all of their staff members. New staff members are usually evaluated at least twice a year, while veteran teachers are observed less frequently. During evaluations, principals are expected to provide specific feedback on a teacher's strengths and weaknesses and offer additional support, if necessary. At the end of the year, principals are responsible for recommending staff members to retain or release based on observations throughout the year.
A less glamorous aspect of a principal's job is to maintain a school budget. With the current state of the economy, the ability to maintain a healthy budget in education is becoming ever-more important. Principals oversee the expenditures of their individual school, covering items such as printing, field trips, supply replacements and staff development. Principals are expected to stay within a strict budget and take necessary action to avoid overspending.