School systems
are finding fewer and fewer qualified applicants when they need to hire
school principals, according to a new study by the NAESP and NASSP.
School systems will find fewer and fewer qualified applicants when they
need to hire school principals, according to a recent survey. Approximately
half of the school districts surveyed reported a shortage in the labor
pool for K-12 principal positions they were trying to fill for this school
year.
Long hours, too much stress, and too little pay for the weighty responsibilities
required in running a school are the chief reasons, say those doing the
hiring.
The survey and its resulting report -- Is
There a Shortage of Qualified Candidates for Openings in the Principalship?
An Exploratory Study -- were commissioned by the National Association
of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) and the National Association of
Secondary School Principals (NASSP). The survey is the result of a random
sample telephone poll of 403 rural, suburban, and urban districts with
enrollments of 300 pupils or more. The survey was conducted by the Educational
Research Service (ERS) in January 1998. Each district surveyed filled
at least one principalship opening last year.
"We've been listening to warnings from state principals' associations
about serious shortages," said Samuel G. Sava, NAESP's executive director.
"The results of this poll point to a national shortage."
"Schools are going without principals, retired principals are being
called back to full-time work, and districts have to go to great lengths
to recruit qualified candidates," said Thomas F. Koerner, NASSP's executive
director.
The results of the study point to the need for further study, Sava and
Koerner say. They hope the data in the survey will provide some guidance
to school systems as they do some long-term planning for the training
and recruitment of high-quality leaders.
WHY THE SURVEY?
More than ever, strong school leadership is recognized as a key to school
improvement. Strong leaders are needed to set school goals and to develop
plans and motivate teachers to achieve those goals.
If statistics are any indication, the need for strong leaders will grow
in the years ahead. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects a 10 to 20
percent increase in the need for school administrators through 2005. Among
the new positions, the number of assistant principals is expected to grow
as districts hire additional assistant principals rather than open new
schools to help with an increasing workload and expanding student enrollment.
But is there a sufficient pool of qualified -- and "quality" -- candidates
to fill future openings?
THE SHORTAGE IS REAL
About half of the districts surveyed for this report said they had encountered
a shortage of qualified candidates for the principal positions they attempted
to fill last year.
However, it is important to point out, survey respondents showed
no dissatisfaction with the people they did hire. Indeed, most
superintendents felt the candidates they hired were well-prepared and
-qualified.
Shortages were reported in all types of schools -- rural, urban, and
suburban.
Was There a Surplus, a Shortage,
or About the Right Number of Qualified Candidates?
(by community type)
Surplus
Shortage
About the
Right Number
Rural Schools
8 percent
52 percent
40 percent
Suburban Schools
8 percent
45 percent
47 percent
Urban Schools
7 percent
47 percent
46 percent
All Respondents
8 percent
50 percent
42 percent
Shortages were reported at all levels -- elementary, junior/middle,
and high schools.
Was There a Surplus, a Shortage,
or About the Right Number of Qualified Candidates?
(by school level)
Surplus
Shortage
About the
Right Number
Elementary School
6 percent
55 percent
38 percent
Junior/Middle School
6 percent
55 percent
38 percent
High School
9 percent
47 percent
44 percent
All Respondents
8 percent
50 percent
42 percent
WHY THE SHORTAGE?
Many factors discourage potential principal applicants from applying
for current openings, district administrators say. The most frequently
mentioned barrier, according to the report, is compensation. Salary isn't
sufficient to encourage applications for a job with such immense responsibilities.
In addition, the stress and the time demands that come with the job were
also mentioned frequently as large discouraging factors. Again, those
barriers held across grade levels and community types.
What discourages candidates from
applying for principal openings?
Compensation insufficient compared to responsibilities
60 percent
Job generally too stressful
32 percent
Too much time required
27 percent
Difficult to satisfy demands of parents/community
14 percent
Societal problems make it difficult to focus on
instruction
13 percent
Fewer experienced teachers interested
12 percent
Testing/accountability pressures too great
7 percent
Job viewed as less satisfying than previously
6 percent
Bad press/PR problems for district add pressure to job
4 percent
Inadequate funding for schools
3 percent
Openings not well publicized
2 percent
Would lose tenure as a teacher
1 percent
No tenure associated with the position
1 percent
Note: This information is based on responses from superintendents
who filled at least one principal position in the past year AND reported
a shortage of candidates (n=188). Multiple responses were allowed.
WOMEN AND MINORITIES
Recruiting minority candidates was more often a problem than recruiting
female candidates, survey respondents said.
Seventeen percent of all respondents said increasing the number of women
in management positions has been an issue in their district; 86 percent
said that qualified females were considered for the vacancy they filled
last year.
Thirty-five percent of the superintendents indicated that increasing
the number of minorities in management positions was an issue in their
districts. Only thirty-six percent said that qualified minorities applied
for last year's opening.
The great majority of principals are male and White (non-Hispanic),
the study states. The percentage of minority principals in public schools,
however, did increase from 13 to 16 percent between the school years 1987-88
and 1993-94, according to the National Center for Education Statistics
(NCES). During the same time period, the percentage of female principals
rose from 25 percent to 35 percent.
"Instead of waiting for individuals to self-select administration, educational
leaders must be identified and groomed in a systematic way that facilitates
the recruitment of potential leaders among women and minorities," concludes
a 1992 report about a joint program of the New York City Board of Education
and the Bank Street College Principals Institute (From Teaching to
Administration: A Preparation Institute, by Crow, Mecklowitz, and
Weekes, 1992, Technomic, Lancaster, PA).
A NEED FOR MORE "HOME-GROWN PRINCIPALS"?
According to the survey, very few districts -- about a quarter -- said
they have programs to recruit and prepare educators to step into the principal's
job. And slightly less than half have formal on-the-job training or mentoring
programs for new principals.
John Goodlad addressed the issue of leader development in his 1983 book,
A Place Called School. "It is simply not established procedure
in the educational system to identify and groom cadres of the most promising
prospects for top positions…" he wrote. " There should be a continuous
district-wide effort to identify employees with leadership potential."
School districts must be "willing to make an investment designed to pay
off in the future," he added.
A 1993-94 Schools and Staffing Survey did find, however, that more new
principals had participated in a local aspiring principals program than
had more experienced principals. "Participation in such programs has become
increasingly important to the career development of public school principals,"
according to a 1997 NCES report.
IN SUMMARY
The national principals' associations stress that this survey is a preliminary,
or "exploratory," report on the shortage.
"The data collected in this study support the need for further and more
intensive efforts to collect information about the availability of qualified
applicants for the principalship," states the report's summary.
In addition, the report calls for a renewed effort by universities and
school districts to encourage and train likely candidates to consider
the role of principals, but it also points to a need for more mentoring
programs in school districts, as well as increased pay and better working
conditions for school leaders.
"America's public schools both need and deserve high-quality educational
and administrative leadership," the report concludes. "If there are present
or future problems with ensuring that well-qualified candidates for the
positions of principal and assistant principal are available, the time
to address the issue is now. Developing a more comprehensive source of
information about barriers to attracting good candidates and about ways
in which school districts, professional associations, and institutions
of higher education can contribute to ensuring that these candidates are
prepared and ready to move into leadership positions is an investment
that would pay high dividends to our public schools and the children they
serve."
The entire report, Is There a Shortage of Qualified Candidates for
Openings in the Principalship? An Exploratory Study, complete with
charts and graphs, is available online.
School systems
are finding fewer and fewer qualified applicants when they need to hire
school principals, according to a new study by the NAESP and NASSP.