Study makes case for more patience with new school principals
High principal turnover at schools could lead to the demise of a school’s overall academic achievement, according to a new study. Even more disconcerting is the news that some 20 percent of new principals move on to different schools or positions within two years of starting that job, according to the RAND Corp. study (PDF).
“The underlying idea is that churn is not good,” Gina Schuyler Ikemoto, an author of the report and the executive director of research and policy development for New Leaders, told Ed Week. New Leaders is a New York-based education nonprofit, which commissioned the report. The organization helps prepare and place principals in urban school districts.
Looking at data from public schools in Baltimore, Chicago, Memphis, New York City, Oakland and Washington, D.C., the study found that some 12 percent of the 519 principals studied left their new schools after the first year on the job. An additional 11 percent left their posts for another job after the second year. Principals were most likely to leave when test scores at their school dropped a bit. When those schools opted to hire a new principal due to the lower scores, the report’s authors found that the school’s scores continued to decline. Some education experts say it takes a minimum of three years for a new principal to get truly acquainted with a school community and start on the road to measurable improvements.
Principals at start-up schools and those who reached performance goals were less likely to leave their new jobs, according to the report.
