Contested Terrain: Principal and Teacher Leadership at Grove Street Elementary School

This case describes dilemmas faced by a second-year principal whose urban school received a major grant to encourage teacher leadership, expand decision making, and promote school-based autonomy. This case focuses on the principal’s efforts to negotiate his work with multiple stakeholders, including the coach, teachers, and district leadership. The principal struggles to balance his desire to cede authority to teachers and foster teacher leadership with his responsibility to raise student performance.