Superintendents, personnel directors and school boards across the nation are faced with a growing problem of locating high caliber replacements for the exodus of school principals that began as we entered the decade of the 1990s. This departure, which began as natural attrition due to age and retirement, has been accelerated by several other…

The job of the school principal has become much more complex and demanding over the past several decades. Many university-based principal preparation programs -- which prepare the majority of school principals -- have struggled with how to make the fundamental changes needed to prepare principals for today's schools. This report shares lessons…

This report in brief shares findings from the RAND Corporation's five-year study of The Wallace Foundation's University Principal Preparation Initiative (UPPI). The job of the school principal has become much more complex and demanding over the past several decades. Many university-based principal preparation programs (PPPs)--which prepare the…

State policy contributes to the overall environment that affects how school principals emerge, develop, and lead their schools. School districts are most proximate to the work that principals do and therefore have the most direct, regular engagement with candidates for the principalship, principals in training, and principals on the job. As a…

Principal effectiveness matters for student outcomes, and strong principal pipelines matter for principal effectiveness. School districts looking to invest in such principal pipelines can use this guide to find the most promising federal funding sources to support their work. Research shows benefits for students and schools from what have come to…

Talented leaders are essential to building and sustaining successful organizations. This is especially true for schools, where principal leadership plays a major role in fostering student success. Research shows that principals are a significant school-level factor affecting student achievement, second only to classroom teachers. Like other types…

Purpose: Concerns about variation in the quality of preservice preparation provided by many university-based principal preparation programs (PPPs) has led to calls to use outcomes of program graduates to hold PPPs accountable. Little research, however, has assessed the degree to which different outcomes for PPP graduates in fact vary…

Since the 2000s there has been a growing global interest in policies that redefine, support, and monitor school leadership roles. Despite this, research knowledge on the international use of school leadership standards is limited, specifically on its relationship to various role demands (or imperatives) of school administration. Drawing from data…

In November 2015, the National Policy Board for Educational Administration--a coalition of nine professional associations--adopted the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL), a set of guidelines for the training, certification, hiring, evaluation, and supervision of school principals and superintendents. While it draws heavily from…

Purpose: Concerns about variation in the quality of pre-service preparation provided by many university-based principal preparation programs (PPPs) has led to calls to use outcomes of program graduates to hold PPPs accountable, which the recent growth of state administrative data systems has made feasible. Little research, however, has assessed…

Principal evaluation systems without explicit and aligned professional learning simply re-create a system of compliance and fail to improve leadership capacity. Given the complexity of the role of today's principals, they must learn a new set of skills and knowledge to create innovative learning environments. To use principal evaluation as a tool…

These appendixes provide supplemental detail about the analyses and findings presented in Preparing School Leaders for Success: Evaluation of New Leaders' Aspiring Principals Program, 20120-2017 (Gates et al., 2019). This material will be of interest to technically oriented readers who seek more information about the information presented in the…

This study aimed to identify administrators' views related to the assessment of school principals' reassignment in educational organizations. The study utilized qualitative research design and the study group composed of 8 school administrators selected via simple sampling who were employed in the Bolu central district in 2014-2015 academic year.…

The selection process for a high school principal rather than the principal evaluation process should be the focus of efforts to improve instructional leadership in high schools.

School leadership is second only to teaching among school influences on student success, according to research. So what can a school district do to produce a large and steady supply of top-notch school principals--and support their effective supervision? This Wallace Update describes two related Wallace Foundation initiatives seeking answers to…