Principals matter. While this is not new information, a growing body of research in recent decades has helped us understand precisely how and how much a good principal can make a difference in students’ lives. School districts that want to develop a large corps of effective school leaders might consider a thoughtful leadership development strategy framework to build a principal pipeline.
A Sustainable Leadership Development Strategy Framework
The work should be organized around a combination of seven domains that can help school districts build and sustain a principal pipeline. The seven domains are connected to and reinforced by one another. They help districts and districts’ partners, such as states and universities, organize and prioritize leader development work.
- Leader standards: Establishing clear expectations for principals' knowledge, skills, and practices.
- High-quality pre-service principal preparation: Developing programming internally or with university partners to ensure training and certification programs are aligned with district priorities and leader standards.
- Selective hiring and placement of principals: Revising hiring and placement processes to be systematic and tied to leader standards. Use data-driven processes to recruit and place principals who are well-suited to the specific needs of the school and district.
- On-the-job evaluation and support: Aligning evaluation with leader standards and providing ongoing coaching, mentoring, and actionable feedback for improvement.
- Principal supervisors: Providing leadership and guidance for principals from experienced school leaders.
- Leader tracking systems: Developing data management systems to streamline and leverage employee information to identify and support future leaders.
- Systems and sustainability: Creating a position or office specifically dedicated to leadership development and pipeline support.
Sustainable education leadership depends on long-term investment in people and systems. By following a structured leadership development strategy framework, districts can build principal pipelines that endure change and strengthen outcomes across schools. Learn more about how to build a principal pipeline with the Principal Pipeline Toolkit.
