Policymakers should fund and deliver authentic, job-embedded principal professional learning and remove access barriers¶

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

Description¶

The report recommends that local, state, and federal policymakers ensure principals have professional development embodying the framework's features: content on whole child education and equitable school environments, delivered through “meaningful applied learning experiences that are problem based and context specific,” individualized mentoring and coaching, and collaborative networks such as PLCs. It further recommends districts remove barriers—providing staff support that frees principals' time, offering professional development at convenient times and locations, and using ESSA Title II, Part A funds—and that states and the federal government expand leadership investments, including the School Leader Recruitment and Support Program.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• District and state use of dedicated funds (e.g., ESSA Title II, Part A) to finance professional learning and free principals' time

Constraints¶

• The report notes the School Leader Recruitment and Support Program has not been funded since 2017, and recommendations were issued amid pandemic-era remote and hybrid schooling

Target Learners¶

• Elementary school principals
• District and state policymakers supporting school leaders

Target Learning Goals¶

• Building principals' leadership capacity
• Improving schoolwide instruction for whole child education
• Fostering equitable school environments

Affordances¶

• High Quality Principal Professional Learning Framework

Claims¶

• Access to mentors and coaches is inequitably distributed, with high-poverty schools far less likely to have supported principals [-W]
• Elementary principals most frequently want professional development on whole child education, with rural principals especially likely to want physical and mental health content [+W]
• Far fewer elementary principals participate in authentic, job-embedded professional learning than have access to professional development content [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Target differentiated leadership assistance at schools and districts designated as needing improvement
• Strengthen administrator induction by integrating it into a continuum of supports, mandating coach training and consistent coaching intervals, building program–district partnerships, and using CalAPA results to inform coaching
• Sequenced multi-year investment plan across teacher and principal pipelines, early childhood, high-poverty schools, funding, and assessment and accountability to achieve Leandro compliance
• Federal policy should invest in high-quality professional learning for educators, prioritizing preparation and professional development designs including teachers teaching teachers
• Invest in high-quality, standards-aligned professional development for school leaders, including leaders of color
• Prioritize professional development access for early-career principals and focus it on instructional leadership to accelerate their effectiveness

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Levin, S., Leung, M., Edgerton, A. K., & Scott, C. (2020). Elementary school principals’ professional learning: Current status and future needs. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute. http://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/professional-learning-principals