Principal Turnover Research Articles

Understanding Teacher Experiences Amidst Principal Reshuffling: A Phenomenological Inquiry

This phenomenological study explores the experiences of Filipino teachers dealing with frequent changes in school principals within the Department of Education (DepEd) system. The research aims to understand the impact of these leadership transitions on teachers’ professional experiences and classroom dynamics, the strategies they employ to overcome associated challenges, and the insights they can share with their peers. The study gathered in-depth qualitative data from teachers across various educational levels and subjects using semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. The findings reveal that frequent principal turnover leads to instability, disrupts academic performance, affects staff morale, and complicates the implementation of long-term initiatives. Teachers employ strategies such as maintaining continuity and stability, establishing clear communication channels, and fostering robust support systems to navigate these challenges. The study underscores the importance of adaptability, building strong relationships, effective communication, and ongoing professional development. The results highlight the need for educational policymakers to prioritize stability in leadership and provide support systems that help teachers adapt to changes, ensuring a conducive learning environment for students and a supportive atmosphere for educators. This research contributes to the broader understanding of the ecological impacts of leadership turnover and offers practical recommendations for enhancing teacher well-being and school performance amidst frequent administrative changes.

Beyond Prescriptive Reforms: An Examination of North Carolina’s Flexible School Restart Program

Although multiple studies have examined the impact of school turnaround, less is known about reforms under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). To advance this literature, we examine North Carolina’s Restart (NCR) model. NCR aligns with ESSA by giving school leaders increased flexibility. Also, NCR differs from previous turnaround models by repackaging a traditionally sanction-based approach to instead motivate school leaders with increased autonomy. Using comparative interrupted time series models, we find positive NCR effects in math, but not in English Language Arts or on nontest-based student outcomes. Also, nearly a quarter of the positive NCR effect can be explained by decreased teacher and principal turnover. These results provide evidence to support current shifts toward reform models featuring local autonomy.

Rektorers rörlighet i Sverige: en kunskapsöversikt

What do we know about principal turnover in Sweden? The purpose of this article is to map and describe the current state of knowledge related to principal turnover in Sweden. The review covers literature published by researchers and Swedish authorities during the past decade, and is structured thematically to answer three questions: 1) What is the level of principal turnover in Sweden? 2) What are the causes of principal turnover in Sweden? 3) What are the consequences, and strategies used for dealing with principal turnover in Sweden? Based on the results it is concluded that the state of knowledge relevant to this area of concern is remarkably weak.

Changing of the Guard: Reflecting on the Impact of Administrative Change on Campus Stakeholders

This case study explores the challenges faced by incoming principals who encounter unexpected situations along with the impacts on multiple stakeholders of leadership transition on a middle school campus. Leadership shifts are felt throughout organizations in diverse ways and may even have a personal impact on individuals in a school community. Leadership transition, by its very nature, is a change. Change, especially at the top, presents organizations with myriad possibilities and similar stressors. Principal turnover has a direct impact on school achievement. The principal is key to sustainable school improvement, a process that may take 5 to 7 years after a new principal has been named. High-performing principals often leave campuses and move to central office positions because of their success with campus achievement. In the late 1990s and early 2000s in Texas, more than 30% of principals left their campuses within the first 2 years. Principals leave schools for varying reasons, such as promotions to other campuses, district-level roles, new opportunities in other districts, retirement, and positions out of the educational field. The reader should consider all perspectives in the narrative. This case study involves issues related to transition, change, instructional policies, decision-making, staff culture, and the impacts of COVID-19 on student achievement.

Principal Labor Markets: Distance and Time Between Transferring Schools

While a growing body of literature has emphasized conditions surrounding principal turnover, less attention has been given to how within-career sorting has shaped the principal labor market. Given the recent shift towards remote and asynchronous learning platforms, this study is the first to explore how job-to-job transfer distance may shape principal sorting. Using longitudinal administrative data covering every certified principal in Texas over 20 years, we first calculate the driving distance and time for every principal transfer event in the state and determine how transfer distance and time vary by school and principal demographics. We then utilize hierarchical linear modeling to determine which school and principal characteristics are associated with increased transfer distance and driving time. We find that (1) transfer distances increased over time and did so sharply after the Great Recession, (2) White and male principals were more likely to transfer longer distances than females or principals of color, and (3) cost of living change was more associated with distance than salary change. These results add a new dimension to our understanding of the within-career transfer market of principals, pointing to potential differences in opportunity and/or preferences by principal race and sex by both labor market and locale. This study’s findings inform our understanding of the dispersion potentials of the principal labor market, offering insight into where recruitment efforts may be effectively targeted and which incentives may be attractive for hiring.

Your Pay or Someone Else's? Exploring Salary Dispersion, Position, and Principal Turnover

AbstractThis study explores ways in which salary can be structured to reduce leadership shortages by investigating how comparative wage dispersion and position alter the relationship of salary to principal turnover. Using a seventeen-year longitudinal dataset covering over sixteen thousand principals in Texas, discrete-time hazard models demonstrate that principals are highly sensitive to salary comparisons over and above basic salary. Higher comparative position is associated with significantly reduced turnover risk, while wider dispersion is associated with a significantly increased turnover risk. Interactions demonstrate that dispersion and position act in tandem to create conditions where principals have particularly high turnover risk. These results have implications for strategies to address turnover through district salary structures, as well as broader notions of how wage tournaments operate in the principal labor market.

(Re)Envisioning Mindfulness for Leadership Retention

An emerging body of research has shown that mindfulness practices for school administrators can result in significant benefits, including a reduction in stress and sense of burnout. Concurrently, nearly 20% of school principals exit their position each year—and cite high levels of stress as a primary motivating factor. In this conceptual paper, we seek to align the benefits of mindfulness practices for educators to the causes of principal turnover, as a means to better support local, low-cost strategies to reduce high levels of leadership attrition. We offer a framework that aligns mindfulness research with principal retention research, and follow with an identification of the organizational, social, and cultural barriers to the adoption of mindfulness practices in public schools. We conclude with specific recommendations for school and district leadership to incorporate mindfulness-based interventions into organizational practices in order to help reduce administrator stress, improve task focus, and ultimately address the underlying sources of leadership turnover.

More than Meets the Eye: Rural Principal Turnover and Job-Embeddedness before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT Principals play a critical role in improving schools, but high rates of principal turnover threaten improvement gains. In this study we used a mixed-methods design to examine school, district, and community factors associated with greater principal turnover, and explore how these factors differ for rural schools. We found that rural districts tend to have more first year principals, fewer veteran principals, and higher rates of principal attrition in comparison to their urban and suburban peers. We found that voluntary turnover is not always attributed to school and district working conditions, but also personal and community factors specific to a principal.

Effects of Principal Turnover on School Performance

This study asks: What is the relationship between principal turnover and school performance? We use data on all Colorado public schools for the years 2013 through 2018 to examine the relationship between turnover and school performance. Analyses included difference-in-difference and ordinary least squares regression after first differencing. Results indicated almost 50% of schools experienced principal turnover. The number of turnover events ranged from zero to three. Results showed no significant differences in school performance based on turnover status or number of leadership changes.

Who Leads Turnaround Schools? Characteristics of Principals in Tennessee's Achievement School District and Innovation Zones

Purpose: While previous research has examined the impact of school turnaround models, less is known about the principals who lead these turnaround schools. This study examines the personal demographics, experience, educational background, prior school performance, salaries, and turnover of principals who led two turnaround models in Tennessee's lowest performing schools: a state-run Achievement School District (ASD) that has not yielded positive nor negative effects and local Innovation Zones (iZones) that averaged positive effects on student achievement over six years. Methods: We analyze longitudinal, administrative data from the Tennessee Department of Education from 2006–2007 to 2017–2018 to compare pre- and post-reform means and trends in principal characteristics between ASD, iZone, and similarly low-performing comparison schools. Results: ASD schools had higher principal turnover rates and lost principals whose schools performed higher while iZone schools retained more principals and lost principals whose schools performed lower. Moreover, iZone schools employed more experienced principals, more Black principals, and principals with higher graduate degree attainment and paid their principals more than ASD schools. Salary differences between ASD and iZone schools were not explained by principals’ characteristics, such as years of experience. Implications: Our findings reveal differences in leadership characteristics between iZone and ASD schools that were consistent with differences in the effectiveness of the two turnaround approaches.

Linking Top Leader Turnover to the Performance of Public Organizations: Evidence from New York City Public High Schools

Limited research has taken the contingency perspective to analyze the conditions under which the impact of top leader turnover on public organizations’ performance may vary. Using panel data from New York City public high schools, this study not only examines the main effect of principal turnover on schools’ performance but also how the main effect depends on schools’ baseline performance. Two estimation strategies—namely fixed effect models and Blundell–Bond dynamic panel models—find a consistent pattern that leader turnover is negatively associated with subsequent organizational performance, and the negative impact is stronger in low-performing organizations than it is in high-performing organizations. This study contributes to the literature by showing that the disruptive effects of leader turnover outweigh the adaptive effects in some public organizations. Moreover, the contingency perspective highlights the role of pre-turnover performance in moderating the effect of leader turnover.

Policy and principal turnover: The impact of the Texas special education cap

Accountability policies in education play a significant role for the principals tasked with facilitating the implementation of these reforms at the school-level. While these policies are most often intended to improve student outcomes, this is not always the case. In some instances, these policies can prove detrimental to schools, yet principals are still responsible for compliance. In Texas, a federal investigation found the Texas Education Agency (TEA) was restricting access to special education services by incentivizing districts to enroll fewer than 8.5% of students, utilizing these numbers as a measure of district performance. The implementation of the “8.5% cap” in 2004 resulted in a sharp decline in special education enrollment. Employing a sample of all principals in Texas before and after the 2004 law, this paper examines how the 8.5% cap impacted school leader attrition during its implementation. Prior to the implementation of the cap in 2004, we find little association between the proportion of students receiving services and principal turnover. After its implementation however, we find that principals in schools enrolling more than 8.5% of students in special education had a .39 higher odds ratio of switching districts and a .14 higher odds ratio of exiting the profession. We conclude by highlighting the scarcity of school labor market research that accounts for state-level education policies and note that policy may be more associated with principal turnover than student characteristics themselves.

The Principal-Teacher Churn: Understanding the Relationship Between Leadership Turnover and Teacher Attrition

Purpose: Principals are critical to school improvement and play a vital role in creating inclusive and high-performing schools. Yet, approximately one in five principals leave their school each year, and turnover is higher in schools that serve low-income students of color. Relatedly, high rates of teacher turnover exacerbate challenges associated with unstable learning environments. Our study examines the extent to which principal turnover influences teacher turnover. We build on past work by exploring how the relationship between teacher and principal turnover differs in urban, high-poverty settings and by examining the effects of chronic principal turnover. Research Methods/Approach: We draw on a student- and employee-level statewide longitudinal dataset from Texas that includes all public K-12 schools from school years 1999–2000 to 2016–17. We estimate teacher-level models with school fixed effects, allowing us to compare teacher turnover in schools leading up to and immediately following a principal exit, to otherwise similar schools that do not experience principal turnover. Findings: Teacher turnover spikes in schools experiencing leadership turnover, and these effects are greater among high-poverty and urban schools, in schools with low average teacher experience, and in schools experiencing chronic principal turnover. Implications: Improving leadership stability, especially in urban schools experiencing chronic principal turnover may be an effective approach to reducing teacher turnover. Principal and teacher turnover and their relationship with each other requires further investigation. The field would benefit from qualitative research that can provide important insights into the individual decisions and organizational processes that contribute to principal turnover.

Work stress and turnover intention among Chinese rural school principals: A mediated moderation study.

To test the impact of work stress on Chinese rural school principal turnover intention, 490 rural school principals in the mainland of China were asked to participate in a survey. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that work stress had a positive relation with turnover intention, while achievement motivation and place attachment had negative relations. Additionally, place attachment was a protective factor that could reduce the negative effect of work stress on job satisfaction or the positive effect of work stress on turnover intention. Additionally, the moderating effects of place attachment were mediated by job satisfaction. These findings can enrich our understanding of the relation between work stress and school principal turnover behavior and can provide some suggestions for reducing school principal turnover intention in developing countries such as the mainland of China.

Novice Principal Burnout: Exploring Secondary Trauma, Working Conditions, and Coping Strategies in an Urban District

ABSTRACT Steady school leadership can support student achievement and equity-related outcomes, but the principalship is becoming more stressful with increasing demands, duties, and expectations. Burnout is one of several factors that contribute to principal turnover which often destabilizes a school community. Individual and organizational factors contribute to principal burnout, but remain relatively unexamined. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to analyze the factors that contribute to burnout among novice principals in one large urban school district in the Southwestern U.S. Findings highlight the impact of secondary trauma, working conditions, and coping strategies on principal burnout.

Principal Turnover: Using Teacher-Assessments of Principal Quality to Understand who Leaves the Principalship

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to estimate the relationship between principal quality and turnover. Principals can have potentially large effects on student outcomes. When school leaders leave their roles, they cause disruptive effects to the school’s climate. If effective principals are more likely to leave, the negative effects of principal turnover are likely exacerbated. Relatively little, however, is known about the quality of principals who leave the principalship. Research design: We use teachers’ perceptions of their principals as a measure of principal quality to understand the quality of principals who leave schools. We address this research question in New York City public schools from 2013 to 2016, and then replicate it at the national level using the Schools and Staffing Survey data from 2008 to 2012. To understand how principal quality relates to principal turnover, we run linear probability regressions of principal exits on (teacher-assessed) principal quality, controlling for a set of teacher, principal, school, district/state, and time characteristics. Findings: We find that higher quality principals are less likely to leave their schools. This finding persists across school contexts and time, lending robustness to our results. Conclusions: Findings suggest that inasmuch as principal turnover is a concern, it is not driven by higher quality principals. Districts should therefore focus on recruiting more higher quality principals as opposed to focusing on reducing overall principal turnover. Moving forward, research should focus on differential attrition patterns so that efforts to retain principals can be better targeted.

Assistant Principal Mobility and Its Relationship With Principal Turnover

Assistant principals (APs) are important education personnel, but empirical evidence about their career outcomes remains scarce. Using administrative data from Tennessee and Missouri, we provide the first comprehensive analysis of AP mobility. While prior work focuses on promotions into principal positions, we also examine APs exiting school leadership and transferring across schools. We find yearly mobility rates of 25% to 28%, with 10% of APs leaving school leadership, 7.5% changing schools, and 7.5% to 10% becoming principals. We also document a strong relationship between AP mobility and principal turnover, where higher-performing APs are substantially more likely to replace their departing principal. Finally, principal transitions appear to increase the likelihood that APs exit school leadership and change schools.

Which Principal is the Right Principal? Student Achievement, School Finances, and Community Stakeholders

When a struggling high school may be placed on turnaround status during a bid for a school bond, the district considers replacing a beloved principal with a record of low test scores with an unpopular principal whose record shows increased student achievement. The school board must decide whether to prioritize finances, community support, student achievement, or state-level demands. This case presents many difficult decisions schools and districts are required to make. Key factors discussed in the case include principal turnover, student academic achievement, teacher retention, school culture, and power.

Strength from Within?

The objective of this study is to add to the existing literature on principal recruitment and hiring strategies by examining the turnover and retention patterns of internally recruited principals. For many hard-to-staff schools—particularly urban and rural schools—internal recruitment is considered a primary method of improving recruitment and retention. However, the relation of recruitment source to turnover has yet to be explored. Utilizing techniques including ordinary least squares and logistic regression and discrete-time hazard modeling over 17 years of administrative data from the Texas Education Agency, this study investigates (1) the personal and school characteristics of internally hired principals and (2) whether internally hired principals are more stable in their positions than externally hired principals. Results demonstrate that internal hires tend to be from more historically underrepresented groups and serve in urban schools with slightly greater proportions of students of color. Furthermore, internally hired principals are significantly less likely than external hires to turn over. However, results also demonstrate that within-school hires are more likely to turn over than within-district hires. These results suggest that internal recruitment has the potential to help stem the high rate of principal turnover but could be more widely utilized.

Retaining Australia’s school leaders in ‘challenging’ contexts: The importance of personal relationships in principal turnover decisions

This paper examines the role family and personal relationships play in Australian principals’ turnover decision-making. The case study of one highly complex school district employed push-pull-mooring turnover theory, and interview participants included eight rural and city principals, a principal supervisor, and two Human Resources managers. Push factors encouraging leaders to leave their schools included negative effects on families of highly visible leaders in small communities. Pull factors encouraging leaders to seek new schools included the lure of home, family, and support networks. Mooring factors encouraging principal retention included strong networks and knowledge of the workload involved for leaders establishing themselves at new schools. More nuanced understandings of impacts on turnover are needed in order to develop effective principal retention strategies.