Prioritize professional development access for early-career principals and focus it on instructional leadership to accelerate their effectiveness¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 3 claims (2 for, 1 against) · 3 studies (1 causal, 1 review, 1 associational), q2–q3 · 0 of 3 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The report's findings support directing professional development resources toward early-career principals, for whom the student-achievement associations are largest, and toward content on leading instruction. The authors state that "principal professional development can be a key factor in helping early-career principals more quickly reach the effectiveness levels of their more experienced peers," and that programs "especially those focused on instructional leadership, appear to help principals develop specific means to support teaching and learning for those furthest from opportunity."

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Professional development must be frequent and address core constructs such as managing change, leading instruction, shaping a positive school climate, developing people, and meeting the needs of diverse learners

Constraints¶

• The evidence is correlational, from a cross-sectional analysis of a single state (California) at a single point in time; the experience-level differential appeared for mathematics gains but not for English language arts

Target Learners¶

• Early-career principals with 3 or fewer years of experience
• Students in schools led by novice principals, especially historically underserved students of color

Target Learning Goals¶

• Instructional leadership
• Managing change
• Developing people

Affordances¶

• Professional Learning Theory Of Action Principals

Claims¶

• Professional development is associated with larger mathematics gains for students of early-career principals than for students of mid-career and veteran principals [+W]
• Principals' access to professional development is significantly associated with teacher retention and student achievement, with gains greatest for historically underserved students [+W]
• The principal professional development program did not improve student achievement in English language arts or math [-W]

Related Strategies¶

• Policymakers should fund and deliver authentic, job-embedded principal professional learning and remove access barriers
• Use state licensing and program approval standards, infrastructure investment, equity targeting, and pipeline reforms to improve principal learning

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Campoli, A. K., & Darling-Hammond, L. (with Podolsky, A., & Levin, S.). (2022). Principal learning opportunities and school outcomes: Evidence from California. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/438.376