Principal instructional leadership, working conditions, and principal turnover in k-12 public schools
Creators: name: Yan, Rui
Publisher: name: University of Utah
Year: 2018
Subjects: Instructional leadership
Principal characteristics
Principal turnover
School context
Working conditions

description: Ever-increasing pressures from federal and state accountability policies and the aging and retirement of the baby boom generation have been accelerating principal turnover in K-12 schools during the past decade. This phenomenon has raised nationwide concern about school stability and student performance. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the factors that influence principal turnover in order to support and retain principals for school stability and success. Based on data from the 2011-2012 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) and the 2012-2013 Principal Follow-up Survey (PFS) sponsored by National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), this study comprehensively examines what factors influence the probability of different types of principal turnover. These turnover categories include moving to another school, leaving the school system/changing roles to become a teacher, getting promoted to the district central office, and retiring. With the guidance of a conceptual framework from Microeconomic Labor Market Theory, this study categorizes factors from both the supply side (principal) and demand side (school and school district) in the principal labor market. With multinomial logistic regressions with region fixed effects, this study examines to what extent the supply sideâ€"principal characteristics and principal instructional leadership practices, and the demand sideâ€"school context and working conditions can predict the probability of different types of principal turnover.        In terms of principal characteristics, this study found that principals who attended aspiring principal programs or had a license/certificate in school administration were less likely to change roles or leave the education system. In terms of school contextual factors, principals in secondary schools, in larger school districts, in schools that did not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), and/or in schools with a higher proportion of students of color were more likely to move to another school.  This study also fills a research gap by focusing on the influence of both principal instructional leadership practices and working conditions on principal turnover. Principals who were highly focused on enhancing student academic performance and academic incentive programs were less likely to move to another school. Principals who spent higher proportions of time on curriculum and teaching related tasks or internal administrative tasks were more likely to move or leave. Additionally, higher salaries, beneficial job contracts, tenure systems, professional development, fewer student disciplinary problems, and more influence on evaluating teachers were all associated with lower odds of principal turnover. These findings could assist policy makers in understanding different types of principal turnover and what factors could influence various turnover behaviors. This understanding could allow policy makers to provide adequate resources and to create positive working environments in order to develop, support, and retain strong instructional leaders for school success.