Public School Principals’ Three 

Most Important Education Goals, by 

Community Type and School Level

DATA POINT

April 2020

NCES 2020-202

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

A Publication of the National Center for Education Statistics at IES

The data used in this report come from the Principal Questionnaire of the 2015–16 National Teacher and Principal Survey 

(NTPS), a nationally representative sample survey of public K–12 schools, principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the 

District of Columbia.

In the 2015–16 NTPS, public school 

principals were asked to identify their 

top three most important education 

goals from a list of academic and 

social-emotional priorities. Overall, 

72 percent selected “Building basic 

literacy skills,” 69 percent chose 

“Encouraging academic excellence,” 

and 54 percent placed “Promoting 

good work habits and self-discipline” 

as one of their top three goals (data 

not shown; see supplemental table 

at https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/

pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020202). In this 

report, principals’ priorities are 

compared between the type of 

community in which schools are 

located (city, suburb, town, rural), 

both overall (FIGURE 1) and by 

school level (FIGURE 2).1

 The most 

frequently selected goals are shown 

in figure 1. Data on all 10 goals are 

available in the supplemental tables.

The majority of principals, 

regardless of school locale, 

reported similar goals among 

their top three education goals. 

Additionally, differences were 

found within both academic 

and social-emotional goals by 

community type.2

For academic goals, principals in all 

community types consistently chose 

“Building basic literacy skills” and 

“Encouraging academic excellence” 

most frequently as one of their 

most important goals. However, the 

difference between the frequencies 

of these two goals is not consistent 

across all locales. Principals in town 

and rural schools chose “Building 

basic literacy skills” (71 percent and 

74 percent) more frequently than 

“Encouraging academic excellence” 

(66 percent and 67 percent), but 

there were no significant differences 

FIGURE 1. Percentage of public school principals who rated specific education goals as first, second, or third most 

important, by community type: School year 2015–16

 

NOTE: Public school principals were given 10 different goals and asked to rate 3 of them as first, second, and third most important. The 

goals displayed highlight the differences between school levels. “Promoting specific moral values,” “Promoting multicultural awareness or 

understanding,” and “Fostering religious or spiritual development” are not shown here but can be seen in the associated tables at 

https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020202. Basic literacy skills include reading, math, writing, and speaking. Examples of 

personal growth include self-esteem and self-knowledge. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School 

Principal Data File,” 2015–16.

To learn more about the survey, visit https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps/.

For questions about content or to download additional copies, go to http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=202020. 
between these two goals among city 

and suburb principals.

For social-emotional goals, town

and rural school principals

focused more on “Promoting good 

work habits and self-discipline” 

(60 percent) than suburban and 

city principals (50 percent and 

48 percent, respectively). 

Among primary school principals, 

building basic literacy skills was 

most frequently selected across 

all community types, while 

academic goals pertaining to 

postsecondary education were 

more frequently selected by 

high school principals than by 

principals at other school levels, 

but varied by community type.3

Figure 2 displays differences across 

community type and school level. 

Focusing just on high schools, a higher 

percentage of principals from suburban 

schools chose “Preparing students for 

postsecondary education” (66 percent) 

as one of their three most important 

education goals than the percentage 

of principals from rural schools 

(55 percent). 

In contrast, higher percentages 

of principals from rural and town 

high schools chose “Promoting 

occupational or vocational skills” 

(36 percent and 35 percent, 

respectively) as one of their three 

most important education goals than 

the percentages of principals from 

city and suburban high schools 

(both 23 percent). 

FIGURE 2. Percentage of public school principals who rated specific 

education goals as first, second, or third most important, by community 

type and school level: School year 2015–16

 

! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is 30 to 50 percent of the 

estimate’s value.

NOTE: Public school principals were given 10 different goals and asked to rate 3 of them 

as first, second, and third most important. The goals displayed highlight the differences 

between school levels. Six goals are not shown here, and data for combined schools are not 

shown here, but both can be seen in the associated tables at https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/

pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020202. Basic literacy skills include reading, math, writing, and 

speaking. Examples of personal growth include self-esteem and self-knowledge. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National 

Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Principal Data File,” 2015–16.

Endnotes

1

 Primary schools are those with at least 

one grade lower than 5 and no grade 

higher than 8. Middle schools have no 

grade lower than 5 and no grade higher 

than 9. High schools have no grade lower 

than 7 and at least one grade higher than 

8. Combined schools are those with at 

least one grade lower than 7 and at least 

one grade higher than 8, or with all 

students in ungraded classrooms. 

2

 See the supplementary tables for a full 

list of goals considered academic and 

goals considered social-emotional.

Public School Principals’ Three Most Important Education Goals, by Community Type and School Level

3

 Examination by school level shows that 

primary school principals chose “Building 

basic literacy skills” (84 percent) more 

frequently than high school principals 

(48 percent) or middle school principals 

(67 percent). Whereas, high school 

principals chose “Preparing students for 

postsecondary education” (60 percent) 

more frequently than primary or 

middle school principals (19 percent 

and 35 percent) (data not shown; see 

supplemental table at https://nces.ed.gov/

pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020202).

This National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Data Point presents information on education topics of current interest. It was authored by Christina 

Yanez, Melissa Seldin, and Rebecca Mann of Synergy Enterprises, Inc. All estimates shown are based on samples and are subject to sampling variability. 

All differences discussed in this report are statistically significant at the .05 level with no adjustments for multiple comparisons. In the design, conduct, 

and data processing of NCES surveys, efforts are made to minimize the effects of nonsampling errors, such as item nonresponse, measurement error, data 

processing error, or other systematic error.