Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to theory and research about successful school principalship amidst contemporary complexities and uncertainties in the United States and beyond. The United States has recently experienced internal demographic shifts and global population migrations contributing to increased student diversity at tension with shifts toward increased commonality in curriculum and externalized evaluations. U.S. schools are also situated within a complex interplay among federal and state policies as well as a range of school and district contexts. Theoretical Framework. Ecological system theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) with complexity theory (Haggis, 2008, Morrison, 2010) serves as the theoretical underpinning for U.S. cases. Further, in light of the school and community contexts featured in the U.S. cases, data analysis is also informed by concepts from Bourdieu, namely habitus and cultural capital, and educational philosophy (e.g., Navajo indigenous philosophy). Methods The U.S. case studies in this paper utilize the ISSPP research methodology which was recently revised to include a comparative mixed methods approach to construct mixed methods case studies of schools in diverse cultural regions of the U.S, including Alabama, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Texas. Some research teams focus on public schools while others include religious schools; some schools are situated in districts that have tighter coupling with support within accountability mandates and district systems while others have more loose coupling whereby schools seek out programs and innovations on their own initiative. Data sources include semi-structured qualitative interviews with the district leaders, principal, teachers, parents, and students and school surveys in order to provide a more elaborated understanding of the phenomena i.e., school success and the principal’s leadership contribution to that success. Findings. Preliminary findings indicate the importance of values in students’ cultures, quality of life or wellbeing, and student growth and learning are common to the seven cases. Further, both principals developed teacher leadership capacity and collaborative structures to foster pedagogical changes, student learning, and academic outcomes. At the same time, the principals navigated and mediated rapid changes and tensions in demographics and policies at district, state, and federal levels. The principals’ personal and educational backgrounds contributed to the ways in which they balanced and mediated multiple influences and changes. The paper concludes with implications for research and leadership development. Significance. The study is significant because it features the U.S. context with its historical and contemporary complexities related to historical and contemporary inequities and compares to other national contexts.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard university press. Haggis, T. (2008). ‘Knowledge Must Be Contextual’: Some possible implications of complexity and dynamic systems theories for educational research. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 40 (1), 158-176. Morrison, K. (2010). Complexity theory, school leadership and management: Questions for theory and practice. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 38(3), 374-393.