The research reported in the paper presents a picture of successful principals in challenging urban contexts. The findings are obtained from the Polish part of the 'Leading Schools Successfully in Challenging Urban Context: Strategies for Improvement' project. This paper shows the urban schools that served children in poor communities and achieved impressive academic results. These schools have attained higher levels of achievement than most schools in their school districts or most schools in the nation. The paper focuses on issues connected with the transformation process, especially concerning the school leadership and leadership strategies, so that others might gain deeper understanding of how a school begins, maintains and sustains the journey toward raising social capital and educational outcomes for all students. Special attention is paid not only on what leadership strategies were used by Principals but also why they were used. Case studies demonstrate how leadership capacity can be built and sustained in high poverty urban schools. The paper consists of three main parts. The central research question in the first part is: What do we know about successful school leadership? The second part gives the overview of the project and presents the methodological approach used in the research. The third tells the stories of high-performance urban schools from economically deprived environments and simultaneously attempts to explain how these schools managed to transform themselves into high-achievement schools and how these schools managed to sustain success. The paper provides a good starting point for a dialogue with diverse audiences about the successful school leadership in disadvantaged urban communities. The purpose of the paper is to contribute to knowledge of successful school leadership, to increase understanding of successful leadership and leadership strategies in effective schools situated in challenging urban environments. This knowledge can be used to guide leadership practice, policy, and research.

Selecting schools: Schools were selected by using existing criteria for judging successful Principals in effective schools in each country. As a result of a preparatory meeting between the parties, we agreed to define a successful leader at school level as the one who has worked at school for at least five years (or one year beyond the normal cycle in particular countries), and who achieves a rising level of 'value-added' results regarding pupils' achievement, teacher retention, pupil attendance and social climate in the school and community. Schools selected for the project are also schools with the majority of their students drawn from economically and socially deprived backgrounds where attendance and behaviour problems have existed. Procedures: A variety of quantitative data were used to identify schools. Once schools were identified, the research team used qualitative data to generate case studies for each school. A team of two or three researchers visited each school. During the visits, the researchers interviewed Principals, teachers, parents, pupils, and other school personnel. The researchers used focus groups to gain the perspectives of several pupils. Before the site visits, phone conversations with principals were helpful in identifying important informants and arranging interviews. After the site visits, phone conversations with principals helped provide clarifying information. Each case study report was intended to describe the school, what it had accomplished and the major changes that led to success. Each case study begins with background information concerning the school and the community. Then the majority of each case study report is devoted to: i) the description of the topography of the school – school organization, management structure, curriculum, extra curricular and support programmes, and success; ii) school principal’s perceptions – biography and narrative profile; iii) characteristics, qualities and strategies of successful leadership and management aimed at integrating pupils from different social and cultural environments, at building the individual and organizational commitment of all the staff, and at raising levels of achievement; iv) and beneficial effects upon school culture, pupil behavior and community. In most cases, the reports demonstrated the contrast between the achievement of the school in years prior to the recently introduced reform efforts and the current state of the school.

Case studies of exceptional schools that served children who are from low-income families, especially those that succeed beyond expectations, provide detailed portraits of leadership. The findings show a remarkable degree of commonality demonstrating that the core aspects of successful school leadership can be identified in ways that can help explain the complexity of principal leadership that leads to improved student outcomes in schools, which took part in the research: almost all successful leaders draw on the same repertoire of basic leadership practices. Research shows that despite pressure from multiple policy implementation accountabilities in Poland, successful headteachers are those who place as much emphasis upon people and processes as they do upon outcomes. The study reveals how much significant contributions principals make to schools, particularly in the areas of capacity building, and teaching and learning. Characteristics and qualities of the principals identified showed a common and consistent set of personal traits, behaviours, values such as high expectations of all, commitment, passion, resilience, empathy with others, trust, honesty, openness and highly developed communication skills. All of the examined principals have the beliefs that: i) all children are important and can succeed, ii) schools can make a difference; iii) every member of the school community has the potential and right to work as a leader and can learn to do so; iv) leading and learning must be shared because school change is a collective endeavor; and v) leadership requires the redistribution of power and authority. Efforts to improved educational leadership should build upon the foundation of well-documented and well-accepted knowledge about school leadership that already exists. There are numerous research studies on successful school leadership. They have revealed that school leadership is most successful when it is focused on teaching and learning, and that it is necessary but not sufficient for school improvement, that leadership can take different forms in different contexts, and some of the mechanism through which schools leadership has its effects. However, there are still many gaps in our knowledge about successful educational leadership. For example, what leadership strategies are used by Principal of urban schools that served children in poor communities and why they are used? These questions, which are central research questions in the study presented in the paper, and other questions calls out for further inquiry, and for vigorous conversation among the practitioners, policymakers, and academics who are part of the educational leadership profession.