A new RAND study asked school districts how they hire develop and coach principals, and offers recommendations for district leaders to improve their leadership pipeline.
A variety of research has found that effective principal leadership is an integral component of high-quality schools, and can improve school climate, increase teacher job satisfaction, reduce teacher turnover, and reduce student absenteeism.
Developing these skills takes time and experience, but recent studies have found a national average of 20 percent of public school principals were no longer in their jobs after one year, and the average principal tenure is just four years. High principal turnover means that districts lose valuable knowledge and expertise in school leadership. It also highlights the need for developing a talent pipeline for the future.
To study these issues, RAND surveyed 207 school districts to find out how they are investing in principal pipelines, preparations, and supports.
Key Findings
- As of the 2024–2025 school year, urban and large school districts (those serving more than 10,000 students) hired most of their school principals from within the district, while small districts (serving fewer than 3,000 students) were more likely to hire principals from outside the district.
- Large school districts were more likely than small school districts to offer most of the six types of school principal PD addressed in the survey.
- Larger school districts offered lower-cost PD to sitting principals and assistant principals alike but concentrated their high-cost PD on sitting principals only.
- Small districts offered less PD overall. When they did offer PD, small districts favored sitting principals over assistant principals.
- Principals and assistant principals in small school districts were more likely to choose their own PD than those in medium (serving 3,000 to 10,000 students) and large school districts.
- Small districts favored less-resource-intensive PD forms for principals.
Recommendations
- In larger districts, district leaders should invest in coaching for assistant principals. More-resource-intensive programs, such as coaching, have been shown to be more effective for developing high-quality school leaders.
- In small districts, district leaders should focus on pre-service training for aspiring principals from all roles.
- Because smaller districts are less likely to have assistant principals, districts should strengthen their own principal pipelines by developing their own programs in collaboration with other small school districts or connecting teachers to state-supported opportunities, which would reduce their reliance on outside hires for new principal roles.
- Given resource constraints, districts should consider targeting more-resource-intensive PD to aspiring or novice principals.
- Districts should also consider peer coaching models in which principals who receive more PD provide coaching and mentorship to other school leaders.
