Effective principals have positive effects on student outcomes including grades, test scores, attendance, discipline, and long-term attainment¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · designr1·q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Elementary students with a principal at the 84th versus 50th percentile of effectiveness showed about 2 months more learning in a year. → UChicago Consortium on School Research 2025
Evidence¶
UChicago Consortium on School Research 2025¶
UChicago Consortium on School Research. (2025). Family playbook: Effective principal leadership. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/events-and-resources
q2 · i? · design · r1
The playbook reports, citing Grissom, Egalite, & Lindsay's systematic synthesis of two decades of research, that "Elementary students with a principal at the 84th vs. 50th percentile of effectiveness showed about 2 months more learning in a year." No standardized effect size is printed.
"Elementary students with a principal at the 84th vs. 50th percentile of effectiveness showed about 2 months more learning in a year."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Principals' instructional leadership practices are linked to improved student outcomes, largely through their support for teachers — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
- After three years with a new principal, the average DCPS student's reading achievement increased by 4 percentile points (0.09 standard deviations) relative to retained-principal comparison schools — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
- School median student growth percentiles were stable year to year even when the school changed principals — related
- The report attributes to Grissom et al. (2021) that principals of color are especially likely to have positive impacts on students and teachers of color — related
- Insight survey domain averages are more stable across years when a school keeps the same leader, suggesting principals affect these measures — related
- Principal turnover is associated with lower student achievement, worse climate, and higher teacher attrition, with effects lasting up to 5 years — related
- Positive school climate, which principals shape, improves attendance, behavior, graduation, and achievement and buffers poverty effects — related
- Residency-trained principals raised math and reading test scores more than non-residency new principals in their first two years — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
effective-principals-positive-student-outcomes |
title |
Effective principals have positive effects on student outcomes including grades, test scores, attendance, discipline, and long-term attainment |
description |
Effective principals have positive effects on student outcomes including grades, test scores, attendance, discipline, and long-term attainment |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2025 |
source_checked |
2026-10-20 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-08 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — uchicago-consortium-on-school-research-2025 |
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