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Abstract
This article attempts to identify the causal relationships between principals' behaviors and students' achievement by using an explanatory narrative that traces the chain of events from principal actions to student outcomes. This is applied to the study of five successful Israeli schools and reveals the series of stages from principals' actions to student outcomes. The narrative explanation about principals' impact on students' outcomes was found to hold two parallel chains of events of two central subjects: the principal and the teachers. The research showed how principal behavior can have a positive impact on student outcomes. The data show that despite different emphases and personal styles, the same narrative explanation clarified the process in all schools. The narrative explanation suggests to principals what to do to improve their students' achievements, where to start, and what stages are foreseen along the way.
Notes
1. In Israel, every class has a home-room teacher who is in charge of all academic and social aspects of his/her students, treats them as an educational group, presents the class before the principal and other teachers, and nurtures strong ties with the parents (CitationMinistry of Education, 1975).
2. In order to receive a “full” matriculation certificate (needed for many jobs and higher education), the student must take and pass at least one subject matter exam at the 5-unit level of difficulty, and earn a total of at least 21 combined study units in all exams taken, during the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades.