Keeping staff informed about current research and practice and possessing a belief system that schools are learning communities are crucial to school success. Principals use a variety of staff development tools to focus awareness on research-based strategies that facilitate improved instructional effectiveness (Blase & Blase, 1999). In an effort to infuse instructional know-how across the entire faculty, the concept of an instructional leader needs to become broadened beyond that of increasing student learning. Principals also need to mobilize teachers' energy and capacities. This requires a transformation of the learning cultures of schools—a capacity in which effective principals are adept (Fullan, 2002).

To summarize, principals—that is, effective principals—support instructional activities and programs by modeling expected behaviors and consistently prioritizing instructional concerns day-to-day. They strive to become a learner among learners. Involvement in curriculum, instruction, and assessment are crucial to the idea of instructional leadership. As part of their ongoing instructional leadership responsibilities, effective school principals are highly visible through contact and interaction with teachers, students, and parents, thus promoting the concept of a learning community (Marzano et al., 2005).

Particular features of effective principals and their role in leading the learning community include the following:

• Effective principals tend to the learning of all members of a school community (Lashway, 2003).
• Effective principals also serve as participatory learners with their staffs (Prestine & Nelson, 2003).
• Successful instructional leaders provide conditions through staff development that incorporate study of professional literature and successful programs, demonstration and practice of new skills, peer coaching, and use of action research focused on student data, and they study the effect of new strategies on students (Blase & Blase, 1999).
• Instructional leadership requires a broader view that incorporates the expertise of teachers (Fullan, 2002).
• Schools that work (i.e., that are successful by various measures) have leadership that provides meaningful staff development (Marzano et al., 2005).