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Issue Analysis

Preparing for a Perfect Storm: Meeting Georgia’s Need for Quality School Leaders

By Deb Page

Just as complex weather systems can spawn powerful storms, a complex set of conditions is converging in Georgia that may challenge the state’s ability to get and keep enough school leaders with the right skills and expertise. As this perfect storm is brewing, in Georgia and across the nation, attention is turning to the importance of school leadership to support teachers in improving student achievement.

The Wallace Foundation commissioned a review of research that resulted in a 2004 report, “How Leadership Influences Student Learning.”[1] The authors asserted that leadership is second only to instruction in the classroom in its impact on student achievement; and, not surprisingly, the effect of leadership is usually greatest in schools most in need of improvement.

School leadership is more critical than ever than ever to meet the demands of state educational reform and No Child Left Behind legislation.  A huge demographic wave of school and district leader baby boomers is reaching eligibility for retirement, causing a need for capable and willing new leaders to replace experienced leaders. In Georgia the percentage of principals with 25 or more years of experience has steadily declined since 2001, and the percentage over age 51 has also declined since then due to retirements and other factors of attrition. Meanwhile, the number of school leaders ages 31-40 doubled between 2001 and 2005 to 1,268.[2] This demographic shift means younger and less experienced principals will be leading Georgia’s schools amid rising expectations for student achievement and changing conditions, such as increases in numbers of students in Georgia schools who are not native speakers of English.

As early as 1998, a study conducted by the National Association of Elementary School Principals,  the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the Educational Research Service focused on the supply and quality of candidates for principal roles. Half of the districts surveyed were experiencing a shortage, according to the study, “Is There a Shortage of Qualified Candidates for Openings in the Principalship?”

Trends in retirements showed principals retiring at earlier ages, with turnover expected at a 40 percent rate from 1998 to 2008. In 2000 the American Association for Employment in Education  identified shortages of superintendents and principals and predicted the shortages would increase as incumbent leaders reached retirement.

The work of school leaders has also changed. Due to rising public expectations and changing conditions in schools, principals no longer are primarily supervisors and building administrators. They are leading the redesign of their schools.[3] To improve student achievement, principals must ensure teaching quality by attracting, developing and retaining a team of teachers able to teach all children to achieve at high levels.

State and national mandates bring intense public scrutiny of students’ test results. School districts, in turn, place personal accountability on principals for student test results. The job of school leader, particularly that of the principal, is high profile, high stakes and often highly stressful.

Georgia’s Leadership Institute for School Improvement is a public-private collaborative venture focused on improvement of the quality and supply of educational leaders in our state. Developed in 2001 in response to a state study that concluded the type and magnitude of change in leader recruitment, preparation, development and retention would not happen within the traditional structures, it is funded by the state and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It operates outside the state agencies, and its Executive Committee includes representatives of state agencies with a stake in educational leadership, the business community and K-12 leaders.

Since 2002, the institute has impacted nearly 10,000 educational leaders and teachers in 141 of 181 Georgia’s 181 districts. Dr. Steve Dolinger, president of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education and a former Fulton County Schools’ superintendent, describes the institute as “the single best strategy to improve schools and student achievement that we have in Georgia.”

Dolinger says the institute is “providing knowledge and skills to superintendents and tier teams of principals and teachers that they did not receive in their graduate course work and seldom acquire on the job.”

Between 2002 and 2006 the institute reviewed educational research on the attributes of effective school leaders and conducted a comprehensive job and task analysis of the role of the principal. Its analysis identified hundreds of tasks that need to be performed well to create the conditions which support teaching and learning. It revealed eight primary roles for principals, including such critical leadership tasks as:

• Leading teams and individuals to analyze data, causes of deficiencies and systems of teaching, learning and support
• Leading change
• Leading faculty to implement effective curriculum, assessment and instruction in a standards-based environment;
• Developing relationships within and outside the school which engage diverse groups of parents, teachers and other stakeholders and support improvement;
• Managing and improving the performance of individuals, groups and the school;
• Supporting the learning and development of faculty and staff
• Engaging team members in improving processes that support teaching and learning
• Managing resources and ensuring effective, efficient, ethical and safe schools.

The analysis concluded that while few tasks in the work traditionally performed by principals have been eliminated, the principalship has grown in scope and complexity. The increased scope and complexity of school leaders’ work, performed in a high-stakes environment, can particularly challenge new leaders. As expectations for improving students’ achievement and closing achievement gaps rise, and school leaders are increasingly accountable for those outcomes, teachers tend to see school leadership as a daunting, complex, 24/7 job. This perception works to discourage teachers from moving into formal school leadership roles.

According to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (PSC), a total of 25,379 educators in Fiscal 2006 held the leadership certificate required for principals and other school and district leaders. Thousands more hold leadership degrees, yet only 7,390 serve in some type of school or central level leadership role. Since educators are paid based on their highest degree in Georgia, the state pays thousands of teachers for advanced leadership degrees although they do not serve in a recognized leadership capacity on behalf of their school.

Georgia school superintendents who were interviewed by Georgia’s Leadership Institute for School Improvement report that securing quality assistant principal and principal candidates is a daunting task, indicating that many teachers who hold leadership certificates are neither willing to nor capable of assuming school leadership positions as they are currently defined.[4]

While filling leadership positions with the right candidates becomes more difficult, Georgia public schools are increasing in enrollment, gaining 2.9 percent, or over 45,000 more students in the fall of 2005. To meet the need, 37 new schools opened and the administrative workforce grew by 5.1 percent, or 399 leaders, from 2005 to 2006.[5] Meanwhile, ethnicity proportions continue to change substantially with significant increases in minority enrollment. Black and Hispanic enrollment constituted 82.1 percent of all enrollment growth this year.[6] As the state’s schools grow and serve more diverse student groups, greater diversity will be needed in the ranks of both teachers and administrators to reflect the populations they serve.

State regulations require school leadership candidates to have three years of teaching experience as well as a leadership certification; therefore, school leaders must come from the ranks of teachers. Those who become school leaders are not mobile; they tend to remain in the communities where they taught and work. Georgia school systems hire less than 2 percent of school leaders from outside the state, and less than 1 percent of school leaders from outside of their Regional Education Service Agency (RESA) area. Only 3.1 percent come from a school system other than the one in which the leader or teacher had already worked.[7] The data show school districts must largely “grow their own” leaders from among the ranks of teachers in each school.

Baby boomer retirements are increasing the likelihood of creating teacher vacancies and leaving a pool of less experienced teachers.[8] Retirements, coupled with escalating school enrollments and lower class sizes is creating a very high demand for teachers.[9] The United States is faced with attracting over 2 million teachers in the first decade of the 21st century.[10] While federal No Child Left Behind mandates require “highly qualified” teachers in every classroom, schools face competition for the type of people they want to hire in a state, national and global economy that needs and rewards knowledge workers.[11] Currently, schools struggle to develop a faculty with the diversity to support multi-ethnic student populations. Schools are further challenged to move enough teachers with leadership potential, diversity and willingness to lead into vacancies in leadership while maintaining a quality teaching staff.

At the current rate of attrition, Georgia school systems must grow their own leaders at a rate to replace 20-25 percent of their school leaders each year.[12] The coming wave of baby-boomer retirements is sure to increase attrition as the high percentage of current school leaders retire. School systems must actively plan for and manage teacher transition to leadership and leader succession in alignment with teacher development and recruitment.

Georgia’s Leadership Institute for School Improvement offers a no-cost training program to school districts and senior school leaders that develops skills for selecting, preparing, assigning and supporting new leaders’ development. The program, “Developing High Performing Leaders at All Levels,” also supports school leaders to engage teachers in leadership of their schools in order to develop and practice teacher leadership skills.

Since school leadership requires specialized knowledge and skills that are not typically acquired on the job by a teacher, teachers who participate in leadership work in the school before transitioning to the role of assistant principal have a great advantage. They develop greater readiness to hit the ground running when they formally assume the position than peers who do not engage in leadership while still a teacher. Without prior practice in the critical tasks required to lead a school, new principals have to learn to lead by trial and error on the job in a high-stakes environment. All teachers who assume formal school leadership roles must complete university preparatory programs to gain the knowledge and decision-making skills they need to lead a school, but they still need the opportunity to practice their leadership skills on the job and move from knowing about leadership to actively leading. The institute is assisting dozens of school districts in Georgia in developing structured internship and induction programs to ensure new leaders practice critical skills with support and feedback.

Across the nation colleges and universities have been under fire to better prepare new school leaders for the evolved work of leadership of schools. Arthur Levine’s 2005 report, “Educating School Leaders,” summarized both the prevailing criticisms of educational leadership preparation programs as well as the barriers to program effectiveness. Levine asserted that while schools of education alone were not able to solve the complex set of factors which impact new leader quality and supply, they have historically been slow to change their leadership preparation programs to address the changing role of the principal.

Even as university leadership preparation programs are under pressure to improve rigor and relevance, teachers and school leaders working full-time appear to want, and seek out, less rigorous and more convenient programs. This consumer mentality has led to a proliferation in degree providers that often offer easy access and less challenging leadership preparation programs.[13]

Georgia has begun taking action to drive changes in leader preparation and certification. The Georgia Professional Standards Commission is on track to release a new set of leadership standards upon which all leader preparation programs must be based. The commission announced in 2005 that all current educational leadership program approvals will “sunset” and programs must reapply to the Commission proving alignment with the new standards. The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia is facilitating and supporting program redesign efforts in the 11 public colleges and universities that prepare leaders. Online and out-of-state providers must meet the same standards to provide degrees leading to leader certification in Georgia.

The new standards are expected to require partnerships between schools or school districts and universities, to more closely align program content with school leaders’ actual work in schools. The standards will also require demonstration of performance in the actual school setting, creating the need for school systems to arrange opportunities for developing leaders to practice leadership tasks in their schools with coaching and feedback.

To support universities and districts in meeting the new standards, Georgia’s Leadership Institute for School Improvement, using a grant from the Wachovia Foundation, has developed a training program that helps veteran school leaders provide feedback and coaching to developing leaders as they practice in their schools. The institute has also published, via its Web site, dozens of training modules for new leaders and their coaches to use on the job to guide practice and assess proficiency in critical school leadership tasks. Over the last two years the institute has also supported the development of pilot collaborative preparation programs that involve school districts, universities and Regional Educational Support Agencies and have been designed to meet the new program standards.       

One very real challenge to school districts in forming partnerships with universities for these programs is the current process by which teachers enter leader preparation programs. Although school districts may encourage teachers with high leadership potential to enroll in university preparation programs, teachers self-select for the programs. Institute interviews with education leadership preparation faculties revealed some faculty members were frustrated that they must devote class space to teachers seeking the degree primarily for a pay increase who do not intend to lead or may not be assigned to lead. Others were hopeful that providing the core knowledge required of leaders to teachers will help them be more effective members of their school community.

Nationwide and in Georgia, faculty and program completers expressed concern that new leaders often are assigned by their schools to assistant principal administrative duties without opportunity to practice and demonstrate instructional leadership.[14] Likewise, preparation program completers interviewed by the Leadership Institute for School Improvement reported inadequate opportunity to practice and develop leadership skills in the real work environment during their leadership preparation internship. Most reported their field experiences involved shadowing a school leader or attending school or district meetings, with little hands-on leadership practice.[15]

While conditions are brewing for a perfect storm of conditions that may impact the state’s supply and quality of educational leaders, state agencies, universities, school districts and the institute are hard at work preparing for the challenges ahead. Fully managing the leadership pipeline will continue to require systemic, collaborative work and policy changes that both stimulate leader supply and improve quality. To produce more good leaders the state must also continue to improve teacher quality, recruitment and retention.

If the number of new leaders coming from the ranks of teachers does not to meet the needs of their schools, the need may open the door to non-traditional leadership candidates. The Wallace Foundation is supporting school systems around the nation that are experimenting with School Administrative Managers (SAM). These leaders enter at a salary similar to beginning teachers, bringing strong management experience from their prior careers. The SAM manages the operations of the school, freeing up the principal and other school leaders to focus on teaching and learning, according to time studies conducted in the pilot schools.

Current Georgia regulations require school administrators to have at least three years of teaching experience. (Superintendents and other non-certificated district leaders may be hired from outside the education arena and must complete a training program.) Engaging non-traditional leaders as principals would require Georgia to adopt certification rule changes.

While leaders from outside education may be able to bring strong organizational and performance leadership to the school house, most have not had experience in leading the core business of public schools: alignment and improvement in curriculum, assessment and instruction for diverse student groups. Non-traditional leaders would need rigorous training before assuming a role in the high-stakes environment, and districts would need proof of proficiency before hiring them.

Currently district leaders can come under pressure to appoint candidates with local political support but without the set of skills needed to succeed as a principal. Districts need objective assessments to document if leaders – whether teachers, current school leaders or non-traditional candidates – can effectively lead teaching and learning, manage and support teacher performance, and engage their teachers and communities in collaborative improvement.      

Preparing for “the perfect storm” requires school districts to plan for and develop a pipeline of diverse leaders. The definition and practice of school leadership is evolving to engage more teachers in collaborative planning, learning and decision making. Higher levels of teacher engagement in leadership promises to help the state address many of the factors that impact student achievement.

Deb Page is executive director of Georgia’s Leadership Institute for School Improvement, a public-private collaborative venture focused on improvement of the quality and supply of Georgia’s educational leaders.  A picture of Deb Page is available here.  The Foundation is an independent think tank that proposes practical, market-oriented approaches to public policy to improve the lives of Georgians. Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before the U.S. Congress or the Georgia Legislature.

© Georgia Public Policy Foundation (December 15, 2006). Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided the author and her affiliations are cited.