‘PRINCIPAL PIPELINES’ TO IMPROVE SCHOOL LEADERSHIP in US

School districts and states in USA are struggling with shortage of highly effective principals for all their schools. And data on the amount of resources needed for doing this is unavailable.

A concept called ‘principal pipelines’ is being employed to help school districts in developing a better hiring, preparation, support and evaluation system for ensuring effective principals.

A pioneer study by the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit institution, examined how six big urban schools are using this concept to invest in their leaders. A new report says that for those six schools, improving school leadership via developing a pipeline has been affordable. Only 0.4% of their annual budgets has been spent towards improvising the quality of their school leaders.

So school districts can start prioritizing the development of better principals with their existing resources. The main expense involved was the salaries of district staff members who aided in screening, supporting and evaluating principals. Other expenses included developing new principals, instructing and assessing them, and providing them professional development.  

Earlier studies revealed that building principal pipelines can decrease unwanted turnover for principals and teachers. The study by RAND has revealed that pipelines are affordable too.

By: Angel

Content: www.sciencedaily.com