While there has been national attention to the crisis of retaining teachers, principal turnover is also high. In this artile, five education leaders highlight how principal supervisors can improve principals' job satisfaction and retention.

If ever there was a year to prioritize and lean in on principal support to lead learning, this is it. Candice McQueen, CEO for the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching, shares three actions principals and their supervisors can take to strengthen instructional leadership.

How do principal learning opportunities need to change, and who should be leading this change effort? The school district central office plays a vital role in principal learning by providing supervision and support for principals. Just as teachers need ongoing learning opportunities and support from their principals to provide high-quality…

This article summarizes lessons and examples from a learning community of leaders from 78 large and medium school districts across the U.S. that has been meeting monthly throughout the pandemic, that other educators might apply to their work as they continue to navigate difficult and ambiguous times. The learning community members have identified…

Principals are critical to improving schools, but job-related stress and burnout are factors that can limit principal effectiveness and lead to untimely turnover. Extant literature, leadership preparation programs, and district policies have largely ignored principal burnout despite the increased complexity of the principalship and increasing…

Des Moines (Iowa) Public Schools is one of six urban districts participating in an effort to redesign the role of principal supervisors. The Wallace Foundation's Principal Supervisor Initiative provides four years of support for these districts to transform the role, which has traditionally focused on operations and compliance, into one that…

While most principal supervisors are former principals themselves, few come to the role with specific training in how to do the job effectively. For this reason, both the Washington, D.C., and Tulsa, Oklahoma, principal supervisor programs include a strong professional development component. In this article, the author takes a look inside these…

Principal supervisors often find themselves drawn into managing logistical and operational matters, instead of helping principals become more effective instructional leaders. Yet Meredith Honig and Lydia Rainey contend that principal supervisors need to make principals' instructional leadership their primary focus. Drawing on their work with…

A recent synthesis of research from the last two decades confirms that principals can have a significant impact on student learning outcomes, accelerating annual student learning by more than two months. Effective principals focus on high-leverage instructional activities, build a productive culture and climate, facilitate collaboration and…

Despite a growing research base on the need for and value of instructionally-focused principal supervisors, few states have addressed principal supervisors in their plans to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). In those plans that include strategies pertaining to principal supervisors, there is limited detail. This resource highlights…

In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on professional learning structures for teaching and finding ways to embed this learning into the daily work of teachers. This is premised on the understanding that one-shot professional development yields little transfer or change of practice to ultimately impact student learning. But how has…

This brief is one in a series aimed at providing K-12 education decision makers and advocates with an evidence base to ground discussions about how to best serve students during and following the novel coronavirus pandemic. It addresses one central question: What changes in central office systems are likely to support principals in leading for…

The American Rescue Plan Act has made funds available to states and districts to speed up recovery from the effects of COVID-19, including addressing learning loss. The Wallace Foundation has distilled evidence from its work that may be helpful in informing choices about how to spend those funds, as well as how to implement key strategies.…

In Washington, D.C., and Tulsa, Okla., districts whose efforts are supported by the Wallace Foundation, principal supervisors concentrate on bolstering their principals' work to improve instruction, as opposed to focusing on the managerial or operational aspects of running a school. Supervisors oversee fewer schools, which enables them to provide…

Principals have a difficult job. It requires them to be instructional leaders, managers and mentors, all with the goal of helping every student succeed. How can school districts provide principals the support they need to excel in this challenging position? This Stories from the Field report explores how some school districts are responding to…