Competency-Based Leadership: A Guide for High Performance in the Role of the School Principal Leaders Guide Edition

Competency-Based Leadership is a book that will set the gold standard for today’s 21st century principal. Research has taught us to embrace change through knowledge of best practices and examples of accountability through discussion questions and real case studies. Scott Norton has brought us a comprehensive guide to meeting the challenges of administration today. This book goes far beyond a how-to into the ultimate playbook for school success.

Competency-Based Leadership provides a comprehensive overview of what today’s school principal needs to know and be able to do. Drawing upon his wide experience in educational leadership and administration, Dr. Scott Norton brings insight and clarity to the challenges inherent in this most important educational position. It is of significance that the lens he uses to present the modern principal is the lens of competency-based leadership. Today’s school leaders are of necessity focused on outcomes and educational leadership, with useful knowledge about the learning leadership embraced by principals that leads to desirable educational outcomes for children and for schools. Dr. Norton’s book will be a valuable addition to one’s book case.

Competency-Beased Leadership addresses significant issues facing todays school principals. Besides examining the importance of developing leadership competencies focusing on student learning and accountability, the authors provide important insights about issues that continue to plaque novice and experienced school leaders–budgeting, community building, legal quandaries, and planning and organizing their time. A key feature of the text is the use of guiding discussion questions and case studies to illustrate how school leaders practice these competencies.

Dr. Scott Norton has produced a well-developed and comprehensive text for school administrators and those planning professional careers as administrators in education. Centering squarely on the contemporary topic of competency-based leadership, the book provides the reader with the foundational history of school leadership and the specific knowledge and skills required to become a competent school leader. Chapters of the book focus on the topics of the legal concerns, organizational and planning strategies, decision-making effectiveness, strengthening faculty, responding to student needs and other essential knowledge and skills required in high-performing schools today.

Dr. Scott Norton’s thorough treatment of contemporary educational research on school leadership is exceptional. This serves as the foundational framework for the practicing principal to use in daily leadership practice. The questions posed in the text are compelling and yield inspired reflection. The conclusion is brilliantly elegant: Leadership matters.