Sample Wonderings by Principals
From: Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, pp. 65-66.
PASSION / SAMPLE QUESTION(S)Staff Development / · How does the process of peer coaching help veteran teachers continue to learn and grow and what role can the principal play in facilitating this process?
· In what ways can I as a principal help facilitate the professional growth of the teachers within my building through engagement in action research?
Curriculum Development / · In what ways does a cross - school curriculum project impact student learning and our school community?
· How can I build my own knowledge of exemplary writing practice?
· How do I use learning communities as a tool for teachers and myself to utilize in the transformation of the writing curriculum at our school?
Individual Teacher(s) / · What types of support help my new teachers succeed?
· How can I best help an out-of-field teacher?
· What is the relationship between changing a veteran teacher’s grade level assignment and getting her out of a rut?
Individual Student(s) / · What happens to struggling readers in our school after they leave intervention programs?
· What effect does the inclusion environment have on the reading achievement of eighth grade Language Arts students at Lake Butler Middle School?
· What is the relationship between students’ participation in Williston High’s SWAS (School Within A School) Credit Retrieval Program and their success in high-school?
Community/
Culture Building / · What role does a weekly school-wide meeting play in creating a caring school culture?
· In what ways can our school develop a collaborative culture characterized by teachers from different grade levels communicating, understanding, and sharing expectations for all of our students?
Leadership Skills / · What do I learn from comparing and contrasting my own perceptions, my teachers’ perceptions, my leadership team’s perceptions, and my supervisor’s perceptions about my own instructional leadership as a principal?
· How do I improve my ability to inspire others toward a common purpose?
· How do I build a cohesive and spirited team?
· How can I, as an administrator, promote teacher leadership in the elementary division at P.K. Yonge?
Management / · What are teachers’ level of satisfaction with the current block schedule?
· How can we all work together (students, teachers, lunch paraprofessionals, kitchen workers, custodians, and principal) to make lunchtime a cooperative and pleasant time for everyone?
School Performance / · In what ways will implementing the continuous improvement model help increase student achievement at Mellon Elementary?
· What actions can our faculty take to improve the reading achievement of our lowest quartile students?
Social Justice / · In what ways does a whole-group book study on Ruby Payne’s A Framework for Understanding Poverty contribute to how we, as a Lake Butler Middle School administration and faculty, might create change and work towards breaking the cycle of poverty?
· What can we do to help close the achievement gap and improve our practice toward African-American students?