Principal and teacher shortages have been a concern in K-12 schools over the last few years. According to recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics, the majority of the country’s public K–12 schools experienced difficulty hiring fully certified teachers heading into the current academic year. Research shows that strong school leadership can affect teacher satisfaction, turnover, and quality, in addition to student learning and school climate. But what steps can districts take to strengthen their principalship?
One report points to building “comprehensive, aligned” principal pipelines. Principal pipelines help to ensure that schools are staffed with highly effective principals who collaborate successfully with teachers, students, and communities. The study documented the pipeline development efforts of 84 medium- and large-sized school districts across the country.
Each of the districts worked to implement a combination of the seven domains, or parts, of a “comprehensive, aligned” principal pipeline without a large amount of additional funding. There is no “one size fits all” pipeline, the authors note. The pipelines are “comprehensive” because their domains cover key actions districts can take to develop high-quality principals. “Aligned” means that each of the domains works to reinforce the others, and that they align with the district’s strategic goals and directions.
The authors of the report noted that the districts adapted some of the domains based on their specific needs. For example, they:
- Revised their leader standards
- Expanded pre-service preparation
- Offered new learning opportunities to aspiring principals
- Sometimes included teacher leaders and assistant principals in leadership development
The districts faced setbacks along the way. For example, superintendent turnover sometimes impeded progress, and some central office leaders lacked the time needed to develop and sustain the pipeline. Despite these challenges, several factors seemed to boost their work, including a core team of central office staffers charged with running the pipeline, good communication with said central office, and superintendent support and stability.
