Principal Recruitment Another Move in Reform

"That's all important stuff, but it has nothing to do with instructional quality," he added. "If schools are about instruction and learning, then the CEO of the school, the principal, should be the head of that effort."

One problem in the District is principal turnover. The school system's six superintendents in the past 10 years have replaced about 250 principals.

Gwendolyn Grant at Cardozo High School in Northwest is one of the interim principals waiting to hear whether she is eligible to apply for the job next year. In the meantime, she's not standing still.

In January, she instituted mandatory uniforms and used donated money to buy them for every student. She has brought in researchers to lead training sessions for teachers and created a morning advisory period where students can get college information and SAT preparation or extra help in reading and math. She wants to create department chairs in the school, teachers who are experts in their field who can serve as mentors to their colleagues.

"We need someone who can go and observe us on a regular basis and help us where we need improvement," said algebra teacher Michael Moore, who supports the department chair idea. Grant, he said, "is more education-focused."

Grant, who has a doctorate in education and spent 31 years in Baltimore County schools, including eight years at the helm of Towson High School, said she is more focused on student performance and what teachers need to teach than on her "interim" title.

"You have to keep yourself focused on the priority -- academic achievement," Grant said. "I don't know any way to go about the job but to give my best so that students are not being shortchanged," she said.

She has brought visible changes to the 1,000-student school. Students used to enter the school through back basement doors, but now they stride through the front doors, over steps Grant had repaired.

This month, Grant started an after-school program for 10th-graders struggling in reading and math so that they could improve their performance on an upcoming standardized test.

"Please choose excellence," Grant wrote in a letter to parents outlining the program.

After parent-teacher conferences, she held a parent potluck where a guest speaker explained what the federal No Child Left Behind Law would mean for a school such as Cardozo, which has not met math and reading targets for several years.

Each morning, Grant stands outside and greets students with a cheery "Good morning!" She checks for uniforms and quickly separates those not wearing a white polo shirt and khaki pants. On a recent day, some students rolled their eyes at getting caught, but Grant didn't let anyone slip.