Explore differentiated preservice preparation, contextualized in-service learning, and incentives to retain principals in lower-retention environments¶

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

Description¶

The report recommends that state and local education leaders consider retention strategies for the high-turnover environments the study identified. It suggests that "preservice preparation could be differentiated based on the administrators' upcoming placements, in-service professional learning opportunities might be better contextualized, or incentives could be offered to encourage effective leaders to remain in certain (traditionally lower-retention) environments." Leaders are advised to check whether such strategies exist where turnover is highest.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• State and local education leaders able to monitor school outcomes and direct resources to high-turnover contexts

Constraints¶

• The study did not examine causes of retention and mobility, so strategy selection would benefit from in-depth exploration of the environments where turnover is highest

Target Learners¶

• School principals in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah traditional public schools

Target Learning Goals¶

• Principal retention and leadership continuity in high-poverty, minority-enrollment, and lower-performing schools

Claims¶

• Turnover is higher in charter schools (17.8%) than traditional public schools (14.9%) and higher in city schools (17.7%) than other locales [+W]
• Fewer than half of principals in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah remained at the same school from fall 2016 to fall 2020 [+W]
• Proportionally fewer principals remained at lower-performing schools than at higher-performing schools across all three states (three-year retention) [+W]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• Makkonen, R., & Jaquet, K. (2021). Principal retention patterns in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah (REL 2022–129). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory West. https://ies.ed.gov/use-work/resource-library/report/descriptive-study/principal-retention-patterns-arizona-nevada-and-utah