The changing role of principals in school partnerships

School administrators find themselves in new, more collaborative roles. Current and future school leaders must understand the collaboration process, and they must be able to involve all stakeholder groups in identifying problems, exploring options, building consensus, and developing innovative solutions to improve conditions for students and their families and to support educational excellence. or years, one measure of the success of a school principal has been his or her ability to generate resources to support teachers and theJ ~ school’s programs. Principals have worked to build relationships with business and community leaders who assisted with fund-raising activities, supported booster clubs, recruited volunteers, and provided technology and other equipment for the school. Typically, the principal identified a need, ini-tiated the partnership, and maintained control. Some partnerships were one-shot events, while others became long-term relationships. Teachers and other stakeholders may or may not have had a voice in the partnership. As students have displayed more and more problems that interfere with their ability to succeed in school, new types of partnerships have emerged. Children spend large, predictable amounts of time in school during certain years of their lives. Those who wish to address the needs of children try to involve schools and school personnel in the solu-tion. When children’s needs are related to the dynamics of their families, solutions must expand to include families as well. Strategies often aim to improve the delivery of education, health, and social services by linking programs and agencies. Partnerships may place I Those who wish to address the needs of children try to involve schools and school pe sonnel in the sotutio al at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on September 18, 2016bul.sagepub.comDownloaded from 87 health and human service professionals in the schools to work alongside teachers, principals, and other school personnel (Dryfoos 1994; Rigsby