New School Year Invites Principals to be Instructional Leaders

Check out this interview with ASCD author and educator Pete Hall as the season begins to shift to Friday night football and school dances. Hall and Dr. Berger met up at this year’s ASCD conference. Hall shares insights into his new book The Principal Influence.

Hall is the former principal of Shaw Middle School, a Title I school in Spokane (Washington) Public Schools. After a teaching career that spanned three states and included primary, intermediate, and middle school positions, Hall served as principal of Anderson Elementary School in Reno, Nevada.

When he took over Anderson Elementary in 2002, it was one of the only schools in Nevada to have failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for four consecutive years. Two short years later, it was the only Title I school in the state of Nevada to earn a “high-achieving” designation.

Hall’s ASCD books, both co-authored with Alisa Simeral are: Building Teachers’ Capacity for Success: A Collaborative Approach for Coaches and School Leaders (2008) and Teach, Reflect, Learn: Building Your Capacity for Success in the Classroom, released in April 2015.