https://doi.org/10.1177/0192636519871618 NASSP Bulletin 2019, Vol. 103(3) 189–208 © 2019 SAGE Publications Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0192636519871618 journals.sagepub.com/home/bul Article Investigating the Relationship Between Turnaround Principal Competencies and Student Achievement Dallas Hambrick Hitt 1 , Coby V. Meyers 1 , Dennis Woodruff 2 , and Guorong Zhu 3 Abstract Building upon the prior development of a model of turnaround principal competencies, we investigated the extent to which the identified principal competencies correlate with student achievement. Participants met rigorous selection criteria for having effectively turned around their schools during their first 2 years as principal. We conducted correlational analyses to examine the strength of relationship between each of the seven competencies and found that the model appears to reflect the internal states of principals who orchestrate school turnaround. We suggest that this initial effort should be further refined as additional data sources become available, but note that this model, given the popularity of principal competencies in districts, can inform current policies and practices. Keywords principals, turnaround, leadership, competencies Research on school principal effectiveness is increasingly clear that leadership in schools matters for students (Hitt & Tucker, 2015; Nichols, Glass, & Berliner, 2012), second in schools only to teacher quality (Leithwood, Jantzi, & Strauss, 2010). Other 1 University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA 2 ClearView Consulting, Boston, MA, USA 3 Salem State University, Salem, MA, USA Corresponding Author: Dallas Hambrick Hitt, Darden/Curry Partnership for Leaders in Education, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 6550, 100 Darden Boulevard, Charlottesville, VA 22906-6550, USA. Email: djh9k@virginia.edu 871618BUL XX X 10.1177/0192636519871618NASSP BulletinHitt et al. research-article 2019