At least until spring 2022, the dismal teaching conditions induced by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic had not led to notably higher educator turnover. However, surveys of educators continue to show that many teachers and principals plan to push up their anticipated retirement date because of the pandemic, and morale Read more
Research has shown that school principals matter greatly to teaching and learning, but the university training they receive for the job has struggled to keep pace with the post’s growing demands. To test a path forward, in 2016 The Wallace Foundation launched the University Principal Preparation Initiative, providing support to Read more
Over the past two decades, the policy landscape and the research landscape of school leadership have experienced major shifts. High-stakes accountability, multiple-measure teacher evaluation systems, heightened policy attention to educational equity, and other changes have altered expectations for what leaders need to know, how they spend their time, and the Read more
Recently in The 74, Marianna McMurdock wrote a piece on pandemic-related school principal attrition. Excerpts of the piece appear below: Across the country, many principals are preparing to leave the education field altogether. A survey of more than 500 this fall by the National Association of Secondary School Principals has Read more
Recently in The 74, Phyllis Jordan and Bella Dimarco reviewed a new FutureEd analysis of plans for spending ESSER III emergency relief funds, including more than 2,600 school districts serving 53 percent of the nation’s public school students. The analysis suggests that the higher the poverty rate in a district’s Read more
Policymakers had hoped that the 2021–2022 school year would be a chance to recover from COVID-19 pandemic–related disruptions to schooling. Instead, media reports of staff shortages, heated or even violent school board meetings, increased student misbehavior, low student and teacher attendance, and enrollment declines suggest increased — rather than decreased Read more
How have principals experienced changes in schooling over the last two years? To answer this question, the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) launched Leaders We Need Now, a series of research reports on how the unprecedented crises and turmoil in 2020–21 have affected the work of principals and Read more
The Wallace Foundation recently released a report focusing on the potential for Assistant Principals to help foster educational equity, school improvement, and principal effectiveness. Recent years have seen a surge in the number of assistant principals and the percentage of schools with them, but despite its growing presence, the AP Read more
Among all in-school factors that impact student learning, teachers carry the most weight — but school leaders are not far behind. Decades of research have proven the positive influence principals can have on student achievement, school climate and teaching quality. New evidence suggests that their impact may be even greater Read more
A new study focusing on Missouri and Tennessee shows that principals of color are more likely to hire and retain teachers of color. After five years, having a Black principal leads to a 5 percentage point increase in a school’s share of Black teachers. Findings not only demonstrate that principal Read more
The George W. Bush Institute Education Reform Initiative has released a new resource for districts, policymakers, and funders based on the initiative’s five-year research collaboration with four school districts. The newly released Principal Preparation Guidebook, the fourth in a series of guidebooks, provides guidance on how to effectively prepare a Read more
Writing for the Shanker Institute, Matthew Kraft and Grace Falken explore the importance of school climate for both teachers and students. Excerpts of the piece appear below: The quality of a school’s teaching staff is greater than the sum of its parts. School environments can enable teachers to perform to Read more
Research on instructional coaching shows that when defined, understood, and implemented as a principal-coach-teacher partnership, teacher coaching programs can be more effective. Engaged principals are key to a successful coaching program. Digital Promise has recently conducted research on the Dynamic Learning Project (DLP) coaching program that shows that when principals Read more
The George W. Bush Institute’s Education Reform Initiative recently released a tool designed to help education leaders turn their vision into reality – the Effective Implementation Framework. Researchers are currently using it in a School Leadership District Cohort research project with four district partners to implement the Principal Talent Management Read more
Effective principal leadership practices improve school organization, teaching, and student achievement outcomes. These practices include framing and communicating a school’s goals and mission, creating shared expectations of high performance, clarifying roles and objectives, and promoting professional development. However, research demonstrates that teachers tend to rate principals lower on important leadership Read more
Education Evolving has released a new guide designed to address the unique opportunities and challenges that face school administrators using collaborative and distributed leadership models. The guide-which draws on the expertise and experience of eight administrators from teacher-powered schools around the country-is intended for any site administrator working at, creating, or converting Read more