5 Things State and District Leaders Can Do to Advance Strong and Diverse School Leadership
School leaders really matter. School leaders play a fundamental role in recruiting and supporting strong educators, driving rigorous instruction, creating school cultures that are inclusive and inviting, and working toward positive academic outcomes.
School leaders of color, in particular, provide strong instructional leadership while creating an equity-oriented school environment and attracting and retaining more teachers of color, from which all students benefit — especially students of color. Importantly, when school leaders of color lead students of color, these positive effects are magnified.
Students and teachers deserve to have access to strong school leaders from diverse backgrounds. Even more so, school leaders of color play an important role in the path to COVID-19 recovery. Over the last three years, students of color have disproportionately borne the brunt of the pandemic — experiencing loss of family members, economic hardship, mental health challenges, and significant unfinished learning. Strong school leaders of color can create positive school environments that focus on learning acceleration while building solid relationships between teachers and students.
In this brief we provide state and district leaders with an overview of five things they should do to foster opportunities to cultivate strong and diverse school leaders of color.
Recommendations
Set clear goals to increase school leader diversity & make diversity data more visible...
Set clear goals to increase school leader diversity & make diversity data more visible to stakeholders.
State and district leaders should begin school leader diversity efforts by setting measurable and time-bound goals. Widely accessible, high-quality data will enable state and district leaders to set goals, measure progress, and establish accountability.
Strengthen existing teacher pipelines that will in turn build principal pipelines.
Strengthen existing teacher pipelines that will in turn build principal pipelines.
Increasing access to strong and diverse school leaders begins with creating opportunities for strong teachers, and in particular teachers of color, to step into leadership opportunities. However, racist13 promotion practices that favor White men can prevent teachers of color from being “tapped” to enter the school leader pipeline. District superintendents, who do most of the principal hiring, must intentionally create opportunities for teachers of color to be promoted. For example, Massachusetts invests in leadership pipelines for teachers of color through opportunities like the InSPIRED Fellowship for aspiring superintendents, Influence 100.
Develop high quality preparation programs for school leaders.
Develop high quality preparation programs for school leaders.
State licensure and principal accreditation policies vary greatly from state to state. Regardless of specific policy, however, state and district leaders must ensure that school leader candidates are receiving rigorous training to become effective school leaders. Unfortunately, not all principal preparation programs are created equal, resulting in inequitable access to high-quality principal preparation programs. School leaders in higher-wealth schools across the country are more likely to attend preparation programs that provide high-quality resources such as robust learning opportunities, problem-based or cohort-based preparation, and on-the-job mentorship or coaching.
Develop high quality professional development opportunities for school leaders.
Develop high quality professional development opportunities for school leaders.
High-quality professional learning opportunities can build school leaders’ capacity to effectively lead and manage schools. These opportunities are important for leaders at all stages of their career, but for those who are in their first few years in a leadership role. Research indicates that principals who have access to high-quality professional learning opportunities are more likely to stay in the profession.
Invest in principal retention strategies.
Invest in principal retention strategies.
Principal turnover is common across the country : 18% of principals leave schools each year, and half of new principals leave within three years. Principal turnover has cascading consequences, such as teacher turnover and disruption of school environments and student achievement. These challenges are exacerbated at schools with fewer resources, leading to higher than average principal turnover rates. State and district leaders must invest in better principal retention strategies while ensuring that teachers of color can grow professionally to be promoted to school leaders who have the autonomy and support to create positive school environments where students and teachers thrive.