Principal Preparation and Performance

Principals impact student achievement through their influence on classroom instruction, organizational conditions, community support, and setting the teaching and learning conditions in schools. Our researchers are learning about leading schools and how they apply best practices to improve state policy, district programs, and school practices aimed at developing and retaining effective leaders.

Related Topics

Teacher Preparation and Performance

Latest Work

Project

The Leaders We Need Now Study

Now more than ever, school principals are vital to student development, school safety, and educational equity. The National Association of Elementary School Principals and AIR have launched the Leaders We Need Now study to examine how principals’ work has changed—and needs to shift—in 2021 and beyond.
Teacher taking selfie with students
30 Apr 2020
Spotlight

Preparing and Evaluating Effective Teachers and Leaders

Teacher performance evaluation systems are one potential tool for improving student success. Emerging research points to some promising features of performance evaluation measures. Explore our most recent resources in teacher and leader development and effectiveness to discover what we are learning and how it is contributing to successful schools.
22 Oct 2019 | 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Event

Addressing the Talent Problem: Recruiting and Retaining Effective Educators for All Schools

Join AIR and WestEd for a special panel discussion, where education practitioners and experts will showcase effective talent retention strategies linked to rapid school improvement, as well as overview strategies that federal policymakers can authorize and fund under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
Infographic: How do U.S. teachers and principals compare with teachers and principals internationally?
7 Oct 2019
Q & A

In Conversation: Insights on U.S. Teachers and Principals from an International Survey

How does the U.S. education workforce compare to other countries in terms of demographics, attitudes, and beliefs? Do they spend more time on instruction and other tasks than international educators? AIR provides technical and substantive support for the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), which provides a barometer of the profession every five years. AIR Principal Researchers Matthew Clifford, Ebru Erberber, and Lisa Lachlan discussed TALIS 2018 key findings and policy and practice implications from a U.S. perspective.
Image of school principal with students
1 Oct 2019
Spotlight

Building and Supporting Great School Principals and Leaders

Principals impact student achievement through their influence on classroom instruction, organizational conditions, community support, and setting the teaching and learning conditions in schools. Read about what our researchers are learning about leading schools and how they are applying that learning to improve state policy, district programs, and school practices aimed at developing and retaining effective leaders.
Image of map of Arizona showing Chinle
11 Mar 2019
In the Field

Building Leadership Skills to Strengthen Schools in Chinle, Arizona

The Chinle Unified School District faced both leadership challenges and teacher retention problems prior to the 2016-2017 school year. In fall 2017, AIR began providing competency-based turnaround leadership coaching, focusing on the patterns of thinking, feeling, acting, or speaking that cause a principal to be successful.
12 Feb 2019
ESSA

Navigating ESSA with the AIR Co-Pilot: 13 Key Resources

State and school district leaders, whether relative newcomers to ESSA or entrenched in implementation, will find detailed information on states’ plans, policy, and research on educational practices in AIR’s ESSA Co-Pilot. The following 13 resources were chosen by AIR experts as the best entry point into this broad and deep topic.
GTL Center Teacher Leadership Toolkit 2.0
16 Jan 2019
Toolkit

Teacher Leadership Toolkit 2.0: Strategies to Build, Support, and Sustain Teacher Leadership Opportunities

Teacher leadership is one strategy many states and districts are pursuing to facilitate meaningful change and support better outcomes for their students. To support these efforts, the Teacher Leadership Toolkit 2.0 includes a synthesis of research on teacher leadership, current examples, and useful tools for designing, implementing, and supporting teacher leadership initiatives.
12 Apr 2018 | 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Event

Coaching to Support the Conditions for a Well-Rounded Education

Learning conditions that support a well-rounded education for all students are key ingredients within state’s ESSA plans. At times, creating a positive school climate and supporting student social and emotional development can be daunting challenges. In this webinar, AIR staff introduce the Leadership Competency Self-Reflection Tool and a coaching toolkit that administrators and instructional coaches can use to support teacher implementation of social and emotional learning practices.
Image of smiling African American teacher with student
21 Mar 2018
Brief

Promoting Educator Effectiveness: The Effect of Two Key Strategies

Having a more effective teacher or principal can substantially improve students’ academic outcomes. This brief examines the effects of using research-based performance measures to evaluate educators and provide them with feedback, and of offering them bonuses based on their performance ratings.
Homepage Image for What Happens When Educators Get More Feedback? In This Study, Student Math Scores Improved
19 Dec 2017
Blog Post

What Happens When Educators Get More Feedback? In This Study, Student Math Scores Improved.

A study released today by AIR and the Institute of Education Sciences shows that even small amounts of the right kind of feedback to teachers and principals can have an effect on student achievement in math. As Andrew Wayne explains in this blog post, the findings are important for states and districts looking for ways to boost educator effectiveness.
19 Dec 2017
News Release

American Institutes for Research Study Examines the Effect of Providing Educators with Additional Performance Feedback

Providing educators with additional feedback on their performance had a positive effect on student achievement in mathematics, but no statistically significant effect on reading/English language arts, finds a new study report examining the effects and implementation of a two-year intervention led by AIR on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences.
19 Dec 2017
Report

The Impact of Providing Performance Feedback to Teachers and Principals

Educator performance evaluation systems are a potential tool for improving student achievement by increasing the effectiveness of the educator workforce. This report is based on a study on the implementation of teacher and principal performance measures highlighted by recent research, as well as the impact of providing feedback based on these measures.
Adult leaning in to coach student
13 Sep 2017
Video

Leadership Coaching for School Improvement

By increasing the capacity and stability of leaders and teachers, low-performing schools may improve student performance and increase graduation rates. This video explores a leadership coaching program that has produced considerable improvements at an Illinois high school.
Image of young male student at a desk
8 Aug 2017
In the Field

Sharing Lessons From Reward Schools to Improve Learning in Texas

Decades of research have shown the harmful effects of poverty on student performance. Title I schools in Texas face particular challenges, including high rates of students living in poverty, high student mobility, and large proportions of English learners. Working closely with the Texas Education Agency, the Texas Comprehensive Center set out to answer this question and share lessons learned to benefit students throughout the state.
3 May 2017 | 12:00 PM - 1:15 PM
Event

Investing in What it Takes to Move from Good to Great: Exemplary Educators Identify Their Most Important Learning Experiences

How can policy lead to smart investments in PD that works? Please join NNSTOY, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders for a conversation about how the findings from the latest research in Our Good to Great series can inform your national, state, and district policy to strengthen professional development.
24 Apr 2017
News Release

AIR Experts to Discuss a Broad Range of Education Research Findings at the American Educational Research Association’s Annual Meeting

Nearly 100 education experts from AIR will present current research findings during the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, being held April 27-May 1, 2017, in San Antonio, TX. The annual AERA meeting is the world’s largest gathering of education researchers from across the U.S. and around the world. This year’s meeting theme, “Knowledge to Action: Achieving the Promise of Equal Educational Opportunity,” is framed around historical and contemporary discussions about unequal educational opportunity.
9 Feb 2017
Brief

Principal Professional Development: New Opportunities for a Renewed State Focus

Principals influence student learning by leading efforts to improve school climate; recruiting, retaining, and supporting effective teachers; and driving organizational change. Too often, however, states and districts focus on teachers rather than principals when planning for professional supports. This brief offers an easy to digest overview of current school leadership research, and highlights helpful state policy examples.
Image of Principals Action Plan Guide cover
1 Feb 2017
Guide

Principals Action Plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act: Providing All Students With a Well-Rounded and Complete Education

Principals can use this tool to guide their engagement with states and districts in developing and implementing consolidated plans for ESSA. Developed through a collaborative partnership between the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, this interactive tool offers principals an overview of the concept of a well-rounded and complete education.
18 Jan 2017
Report

School Improvement Grants: Implementation and Effectiveness

The School Improvement Grant program awarded grants to states that agreed to implement one of four school intervention models—transformation, turnaround, restart, or closure—in their lowest-performing schools. This final report builds on the earlier briefs and report by including an additional year of data and by examining whether receipt of SIG funding had an impact on student outcomes.
1 Jan 2017
ESSA

ESSA │5. Supporting Excellent Educators

In this section, SEAs that intend to use funds under one or more of the included programs for certification and licensure systems, educator preparation program strategies, or educator growth and development systems, must provide a description with the necessary information.

1 Jan 2017
ESSA

ESSA │Developing and Supporting Leaders

Principals impact student achievement through their influence on classroom instruction, organizational conditions, community support, and setting the teaching and learning conditions in schools. Under ESSA states have additional opportunities to attract, support, and retain effective principals. AIR's researchers have investigated school leadership and supported practitioners to apply best practices to improve state policy, district programs, and school practices aimed at developing and retaining effective leaders.
17 Nov 2016
Report

An Examination of the Movement of Educators Within and Across Three Midwest Region States

Education leaders have expressed concern about educators’ moving to different schools—within the same state or in another state—because these moves create costs for the home district and have potential impacts on the equitable distribution of effective educators among schools. This study's findings provide initial insights into the intrastate and interstate mobility of educators and whether educators are more likely to move away from certain types of schools, whether some states are losing substantial numbers of teachers to neighboring states, and whether states are obtaining substantial numbers of educators from neighboring states.
2 Nov 2016
News Release

Performance Feedback for Teachers and Principals Is at Times Unreliable, Even When Using Research-Based Tools and Practices, AIR Study Finds

Classroom observations did not reliably identify individual teachers’ strengths and weaknesses, finds an AIR study examining performance feedback for teachers and principals. The Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education published the report.
2 Nov 2016
Report

Early Implementation Findings From a Study of Teacher and Principal Performance Measurement and Feedback: Year 1 Report

Emerging research suggests some promising features of educator performance evaluation measures, such as additional observations of the same teacher and providing more frequent, specific feedback on classroom practice. This report, which discusses first year results of an evaluation of three performance measures for evaluating teachers and principals, found that the measures provided some information to distinguish educator performance and led to increased feedback.
19 Oct 2016
Report

Following the Leaders: An Analysis of Graduate Effectiveness from Five Principal Preparation Programs

Principals play a critical role in establishing a school’s climate and culture and in selecting and developing teachers, among other roles. Taken together, the findings in this report suggest that focusing on how to reduce variation in the performance of graduates through training, selection, or other means or how to systematize or better tailor supports may be the keys to success in preparing effective school leaders.
19 Oct 2016
Report

Developing Leaders: The Importance—and the Challenges—of Evaluating Principal Preparation Programs

The role of today’s principal is changing, as is the principal workforce. Understanding how to better prepare new leaders for the role of principal is an urgent policy concern. The George W. Bush Institute and AIR have partnered to evaluate the impact of five principal preparation programs in the United States on student outcomes, and this policy paper presents their recommendations.
19 Oct 2016
Report

Principal Talent Management According to the Evidence: A Review of the Literature

To be successful, state and district efforts to attract and retain great principals require a comprehensive, systematic approach to principal talent management (PTM) that encompasses the entire continuum of a principal’s career: preparation, recruitment and selection, professional learning, performance evaluation, and compensation and incentives. This literature review aims to provide district leaders with an understanding of the research and best evidence regarding the components of effective PTM systems.
19 Oct 2016
Report

A Framework for Principal Talent Management

Research shows that principals are a significant school-level factor affecting student achievement, second only to classroom teachers. This Principal Talent Management (PTM) Framework is a guide to help school district leaders and policymakers by supporting efforts to strengthen the policies and practices districts use to attract, support, and retain the best principals.
Project

A Framework for Principal Talent Management

Despite clear research showing the impact that principals can have, more rigorous research and information to guide schools and districts is needed. The George W. Bush Institute partnered with AIR to develop a practitioner's guide that provides districts and policymakers guidance on policies for attracting, supporting, and retaining effective principals—and describes the extent of the evidence supporting these policies. The framework also highlights districts that are implementing examples of these promising talent management strategies.
Project

Evaluating Principal Preparation Programs

Principals are second only to classroom teachers when it comes to impact on student learning. The George W. Bush Institute and AIR collaborated on a two-year study that looks at effective ways to evaluate principal preparation and describe policies to get, support, and keep great principals.
Project

Connected Leadership Academy

AIR is working with the Powerful Learning Practice to help district leaders navigate the multifaceted challenges behind designing, planning, and implementing a reimagined vision of the role of technology in education. The Connected Leadership Academy was co-created and is led by AIR and PLP. The curriculum will be closely aligned with a body of research done by AIR for the U.S. Department of Education’s Future Ready Leaders project.
26 May 2016
Report

Ready to Lead: Designing Residencies for Better Principal Preparation

With so much attention focused on the importance of teachers, the significant role that principals play advancing instructional improvement, educational equity, and success for all students is frequently overlooked. Principal residency is one innovative approach to improving principal preparation that has shown promise for ensuring new principals are ready to lead.
photo of Matt Clifford
16 Mar 2016
Blog Post

States Can Drive Change to Make Principals Prepared on Day One

Too many new principals say they are underprepared for critical leadership tasks which—combined with high job demands, poor support, and increased accountability—raises principal stress to a boiling point. In this blog post, Matthew Clifford describes 18 “high leverage” state-level policies that hold promise for increasing innovation and improving principal preparation.
report cover
9 Mar 2016
Brief

Want to Improve Low-Performing Schools? Focus on the Adults

School improvement policy for the past few decades has been characterized by mandated lists of activities designed to stimulate a dramatic turnaround in student achievement. In the long run, this policy approach did not engender the necessary school-level changes. This brief demonstrates why new policies must aim to get the right people in our schools and to create district and state systems that retain those people and build their knowledge and skills.
26 Feb 2016
News Release

AIR Study Details Teacher, Leader Views of Revamped Newark Evaluation and Pay System; Examines Teacher Retention

According to a recent study by AIR, teachers and school leaders in the Newark Public Schools had positive views of its overhauled evaluation system, but only one in four teachers viewed a new compensation structure as “reasonable, fair and appropriate.” The report, the first to come out of a three-year evaluation, was commissioned by the Newark Public Schools, which have been under state control since 1995.
26 Feb 2016
Report

What Districts Know—and Need to Know—About Their Principals

Despite its potential to inform district decision-making, high-quality data about principal preparation, experience, and assignment are rarely available within districts. This brief describes the importance of improving the accuracy and availability of these data to explore questions about how to find, support, and keep the best leaders.
Image of Peter Cookson
25 Feb 2016
Blog Post

Making ESSA Work One Principal at a Time

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) puts each state in the driver’s seat for making its own K-12 policy. In this blog post, Peter Cookson discusses what this means for educational equity.
9 Jan 2016
Podcast

EdCast: Speaking of Equity #1 - A Better Education Workforce

In this podcast, Peter Cookson talks with Education Policy Center and Center on Great Teachers and Leaders Director Angela Minnici about the importance of providing all students with access to effective teachers and school leaders. The GTL Center is currently working closely with states to design and implement State Plans to Ensure Equitable Access, including identifying the root causes of inequitable access to effective educators in each state’s context.
Cortney Rowland
12 Oct 2015
Blog Post

New, Needed Principals' Standards Are Coming. Now What?

Revised school leadership standards that outline the most important work and responsibilities of learning-focused leaders in today’s schools are being released, but Cortney Rowland argues those revised standards won’t have impact until they are aligned with state and local policies and practices that help develop the skills and knowledge principals need to lead their schools.
23 Jun 2015
Blog Post

Teacher Leaders: Many Titles, Big Impacts

In this blog post, the second in a series about teacher leadership, AIR's Gretchen Weber describes the complexity of defining "teacher leaders."
19 May 2015
Toolkit

Principal Observation Tool Strengthens School District Leadership

Principal observation tools are used to accurately evaluate principal performance by helping principal supervisors and coaches improve instructional leadership. This piece describes how using the right tools is helping principals in the U.S. Virgin Islands develop such evidence-based coaching and performance evaluations.
Project

Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)

The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) is an international comparative study of teachers, their working conditions, and the learning environment in schools. TALIS is organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and aims to provide internationally comparable data on teaching and learning environments around the world, with the goal of informing education policy. AIR provides technical and analytical support for U.S. participation in TALIS.
27 Jan 2015
Testimony

Fixing No Child Left Behind: Supporting Teachers and School Leaders

In January 27, 2015 testimony before a U.S. Senate committee considering revisions to the No Child Left Behind Act, Dan Goldhaber cautions that moving away from annual student testing could make it harder to accurately measure teacher effectiveness.
9 Jan 2015
Report

Building Leadership Talent Through Performance Evaluation

Principals' roles have expanded significantly over the past decade. These leaders face new challenges and new levels of accountability. AIR engaged educators in three states to design a framework, a foundation for facilitating principal growth and accountability. The framework can be used for principal coaching, self-reflection, and performance evaluation.

1 Nov 2014
Report

The Utility of Teacher and Student Surveys in Principal Evaluations: An Empirical Investigation

In recent years, states and school districts in the Midwest Region have developed new evaluation models that hold principals accountable for their contributions to student achievement. This study examines whether teacher and student feedback surveys to evaluate principals based on school conditions promote better teaching and learning.
photo of Aaron Butler
29 Jul 2014
Blog Post

The “Sink or Swim” Reality: Learning From Turnaround Principal Preparation

With Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s announcement of the Excellent Educators for All initiative earlier this month, putting excellent principals at the helm of high-need schools remains critical. To better prepare the new principals, Aaron Butler contends in this blog post, state- and district-level leaders should make leadership development and coaching a budget priority and support both programs that zero in on school turnaround and transformation and ongoing coaching for principals to enhance their abilities to lead school turnaround and transformation.
4 Jun 2014
News Release

Schools with Principals Possessing Strategic Leadership Skills More Likely to Report Improvement, According to Study of School Improvement Grant Recipients

Low-performing schools receiving federal School Improvement Grants (SIGs) are likely to show improvement in more areas if the principal demonstrates elements of strategic leadership, according to a multi-year study led by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) on behalf of the Institute of Education Sciences.
24 Apr 2014 | 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Event

Accelerating School Leadership: Field-Tested Performance Tools for Principal Supervisors and Coaches

School principals need support to face a tidal wave of challenges: new college and career readiness standards and assessments, new educator performance evaluation, fewer resources available to meet expanding student needs, and short timelines for improving performance.

1 Sep 2013 | 12:00 AM - 12:00 AM
Event

Education Week Webinar: “Leadership Coaching: Building Strong Leaders for District and School Improvement”

Join AIR at 11 a.m. (EDT) Wednesday, Sept. 18 for a one-hour webinar hosted by Education Week on the importance of leadership coaching and leadership academies as part of the larger school turnaround effort.

Project

Measuring the Impact of Teacher and Leader Evaluation Systems on Student Learning and Performance

This project for the U.S. Department of Education will conduct a randomized control trial to study the implementation of a package of teacher and leader evaluation system practices in which teachers and principals receive feedback on their practices and their contributions to student growth.

5 Sep 2012
News Release

Capitol Hill Briefing on Effective Principal Evaluations Includes AIR Expert Matthew Clifford

Dr. Matthew Clifford, a principal researcher at AIR and an expert on school leadership, evaluation and professional development issues, will join other leading experts in discussing principal evaluations during a briefing, "Rethinking Principal Evaluation: A New Paradigm Informed by Research and Practice," on Capitol Hill on Thursday, September 13, 2012.

1 May 2012
News Release

New Framework for Principal Evaluation Challenges National Model

Principal evaluation systems should not be based solely on student achievement gains, but rather on the quality of a principal’s school-level leadership and performance, according to a new report released by the American Institutes for Research (AIR). Additionally, principals and other school-based leaders are being left out of education reform discussions, the report found.

30 Apr 2012
Report

The Ripple Effect: A Synthesis of Research on Principal Influence to Inform Performance Evaluation Design

After providing a short historical overview of the changing role of school principals, the brief presents two policy perspectives on principal effectiveness and, finally, introduces a research-based framework for defining principal effectiveness. It finds that principal evaluation systems should not be based solely on student achievement gains, but rather on the quality of a principal’s school-level leadership and performance.
23 Apr 2012
Report

Measuring School Climate for Gauging Principal Performance

This policy brief provides principal evaluation system designers information about the technical soundness and cost (i.e., time requirements) of publicly available school climate surveys.

1 Feb 2012
Report

Hiring Quality School Leaders: Challenges and Emerging Practices

Choosing an effective school principal is one of the most significant decisions that a superintendent or school board can make, as new leadership can propel a district forward in meeting its goals. In this issue brief, AIR staff review the research and summarize the challenges facing school superintendents and hiring committees when identifying and selecting candidates. The paper also identifies emerging hiring practices.

1 Feb 2012
Report

Measuring Principal Performance: How Rigorous Are Publicly Available Principal Performance Assessment Instruments?

School principals are second only to classroom teachers as the most influential school factor in student achievement. For the lowest-performing schools, strong leadership—including setting and maintaining direction—plays a key role in turning around schools’ performance and improving student outcomes. Assessing the performance of principals is essential given the position’s critical role. AIR researchers reviewed eight publicly available formative assessments of principal performance, focusing on the tool’s approach, time requirement, content and construct validity, and reliability.

13 Jul 2011
News Release

American Institutes for Research’s Matthew Clifford to Participate in a Conference of the National Association of Elementary School Principals

Matthew Clifford, Ph.D., a senior research scientist at AIR, will discuss what research shows about various approaches for evaluating school principals during a panel discussion hosted by the National Association of Elementary School Principals’ (NAESP) during its National Leaders Conference on July 14, 2011.

10 Jun 2011
Guide

Global Competence in Expanded Learning Time: A Guide for School Leaders

To become successful adults in a global 21st century, children and adolescents need a broad range of experiences to build their knowledge of the world and understand their place in it. AIR and the Asia Society offer a set of strategies and tools to help school leaders use the framework of global competence to create an expanded learning program that intentionally aligns school curriculum, instruction, and assessment with out-of-school time.
16 Apr 2009
News Release

Public School Principals Report Little Control Over Key Decisions

Though most public school principals believe that effective leadership of their schools requires authority over personnel decisions, they report having little such authority in practice. That's a key finding of a new study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and AIR. Based on a series of interviews with a small sample of district and charter-school principals, the report shows that most district principals encounter a sizable gap between the extent and kinds of authority that leaders need to be effective and the authority that they actually have.
1 Dec 2008
Report

Final Report on the Evaluation of the Texas Principal Excellence Program (TxPEP)

The Texas Legislature passed a mandate to create several school interventions designed to develop strong and effective school leaders, and funded the Texas Principal Excellence Program (TxPEP) to improve student academic achievement, graduation rates, and teacher retention by improving leadership skills. Specifically, the program was designed to help principals learn sound business and management practices. In this evaluation report, AIR concluded that TxPEP improved principals’ leadership capabilities, although no evidence was found of a positive program impact on student performance.
Project

Texas Principal Excellence Program (TxPEP) Evaluation

The Texas Legislature passed a mandate to create several school interventions designed to develop strong and effective school leaders, and funded the Texas Principal Excellence Program (TxPEP) to improve student academic achievement, graduation rates, and teacher retention by improving leadership skills. Specifically, the program was designed to help principals learn sound business and management practices. AIR concluded that TxPEP improved principals’ leadership capabilities, although no evidence was found of a positive program impact on student performance.