September 7, 2022
Sarah Rodrigues
Education Leader Success: Hearing from Your Community
11 minutes
Districts and superintendents continue to struggle with principal turnover rates as each year, which is impacting their ability to execute their district strategy, foster student achievement, engage their communities in education success, and . We鈥檝e already seen how high principal turnover negatively affects internal teams in education, and explored some suggestions to mitigate those impacts.
Now we鈥檒l look at how frequent principal turnover affects students, parents, and the community as a whole. More importantly, we鈥檒l discuss how those groups can actually help a new principal to succeed, and build a strong community where they are more likely to stay long-term.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 critical to understand that this isn鈥檛 just a job centered around building administration and the tasks principals perform. It鈥檚 primarily a job about people.鈥� -
What impact does a change in principal have?
Impact on students
You may think that students only care about their principal when they鈥檙e in trouble and are sent to the office, but that thinking negates the significance of a principal鈥檚 leadership role in the school. Principal decisions and priorities cascade down to students through budget dollars, resource allocation, teacher attitudes, and school culture. These in turn show a strong correlation with student success, safety, and disciplinary issues.
One study by showed that 鈥渢est scores decline in the first year of a principal transition, and that the negative effect on test scores continues into the second and third year of the new principal鈥檚 tenure.鈥� That impact was compounded each time the principal changed, adding a further 2-3 years each time.
Effective, longer-tenure principals are , leading to increased student achievement. Long-term principals are also more familiar with the students, have built trust and relationships in the school, understand the student鈥檚 challenges, and can tailor the district鈥檚 strategic plan to those students鈥� needs.
When principals change frequently, developing trust and student relationships has to start over and over again. Students may become jaded at the lack of follow-through on a previous principal鈥檚 initiatives. They may clash with a principal who enacts policies and procedures that fail to account for student diversity or challenges. Principal budget decisions may not reflect where students want those funds to go. This can derail student engagement and achievement, especially if it happens frequently.
Students are rarely consulted about changes at their own schools, particularly at the leadership level, leaving them disengaged and disenfranchised about the decisions that affect them most.
While there are dozens of factors at play in calculating student achievement, and studies on its impact are limited, principal turnover can鈥檛 be ignored, and superintendents should be very aware of its implications.
Impact on parents
Parents are a vital resource for a new principal鈥攖hey have great ideas, and want to be heard. They aren鈥檛 consulted nearly as often as they should be, though, given their importance to students鈥� lives. Parental involvement in schools can ultimately 鈥攁ll important goals for a new principal. The impact of principal turnover, then, is very similar to its impact on students. Relationships and trust must be rebuilt, which takes time and effort for both parties.
If that trust isn鈥檛 established and parental input isn鈥檛 solicited, relationships with parents erode. Without those relationships, parents may lose respect for and faith in the new principal鈥檚 capabilities, particularly if they disagree on the school鈥檚 priorities or the in some way (as we all do in a new role!). Seeing the negative impact of principal turnover on student achievement can further erode that trust and respect.
The more frequent the turnover, the more disenfranchised parents will feel. Ultimately, parents may choose to limit or completely stop their own involvement in the school, further compounding student behavior and achievement issues. Parents with the option available may even move their children to a private or charter school.
While a new principal can鈥檛 change the past, it鈥檚 vital for them (and their superintendent) to understand the importance of parental involvement, and what impact it can have on their success in the role.
Impact on the community
Communities and schools are deeply intertwined. Community have often been used as predictors of student achievement, and also influence the tenure and effectiveness of school staff.
The other side of the same coin is that high-performing schools with strong leadership can help communities grow and thrive through community pride, involvement, and volunteerism. As such, no principal can succeed without a thorough understanding of the community, which then informs their vision and strategies for their school.
When principal turnover is high, student achievement suffers. Research indicates that this can lead to , , and, over time, for the entire area. The community should therefore be highly invested in a new principal鈥檚 success.
If a new principal introduces a vision that fails to account for the school鈥檚 community鈥攊ncluding its demographics, sociographics, and unique challenges鈥攖he community will not be engaged to help them succeed.
Engaging the community is a vital activity for principals and superintendents.
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How can new principals access and empower these groups?
Student voice builds trust and innovation
鈥淭he answer is not to standardize education, but to personalize and customize it to the needs of each child and community. There is no alternative.鈥�
- Sir Ken Robinson
Empowering student voice鈥攖he expression and reflection of students鈥� thoughts, ideas, opinions, and values that they share鈥攊s one of the most effective ways for new principals to engage and involve their students.
Research indicates that students who believe they have a voice in school are . They鈥檙e also more likely to participate in extracurricular activities and volunteerism.
As it relates to new principals, research from the notes that student voice is key to developing a strong school culture. Students who feel engaged, supported, and heard make a greater effort to succeed and contribute back to the school, helping the principal achieve their goals.
Principals who encourage student voice can:
- Build credibility and trust with their students
- Access innovative and supported ideas from students to help execute the district鈥檚 strategic plan
- Create a sense of ownership for students over their own education
- Increase alignment and engagement with the school and district鈥檚 vision
- Get feedback to improve and grow as leaders
Many education leaders are already recognizing the value of student input in their strategic plans. The recently ran an Exchange, and received over 1,000 student responses. Deb Crawford, Director of Education, summed it up nicely: 鈥淸We鈥檝e] got a very strong student voice as part of this plan, and since they鈥檙e at the center of everything we鈥檙e doing, it鈥檚 really important that we do have their voice present.鈥�
took it a step further, and put students in charge of student voice. Using 天美网站传媒传媒, they gathered the responses of over 500 students, and presented the highest priority thoughts to the board to inform the strategy going forward. When asked how the process made her feel, one student noted: 鈥淚鈥檝e been to a lot of different schools that have said they were going to change things and they never did it, but it鈥檚 the fact that we鈥檙e here right now talking to everybody, and they鈥檙e listening, and we鈥檙e actually trying to change things and make a difference for the school."
Parents are key to student and principal success
"The best education I received was working with people in the community on a grassroots basis. Because what it taught me was that ordinary people, when they are working together, can do extraordinary things."
- President Barack Obama
In its report on school success, the that 鈥淭he challenges of improving America鈥檚 schools are so great that it would be impossible to address them successfully without community and parent partners鈥� being fully involved, supportive and understanding.鈥�
Just as with student voice, new principals should consult and communicate with parents frequently and openly. Doing so allows the principal to:
- Understand the unique challenges facing students and parents
- Get ahead of parent concerns and complaints which could detract from the ability to execute the district鈥檚 strategic plan
- Finding common ground, even on polarized issues
- Access innovative ideas from parents, as well as a pool of volunteers ready to execute on them
- Gain trust and credibility with parents
Principals looking to engage the parents of their students, particularly in more diverse or underserved communities, will have to recognize that traditional methods of communication may not reach everyone. For example, single and working parents may not be able to arrange transportation, schedules, and childcare to attend a focus group or town hall meeting, so principals should use asynchronous and alternative methods to get this feedback.
Parents may also not always feel comfortable communicating in English, so communications with parents should be inclusive and multilingual. Town halls and focus groups in particular can be difficult forums where English is not a participant鈥檚 first language, as people tend to speak quickly and interrupt each other.
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Uniting communities around their schools
鈥淓ducation is the cornerstone of our communities and our country.鈥�
- Sen. Bill Frist, M.D.
As we discussed above, schools can impact the success of a community, and vice versa. By uniting communities in support of schools, principals can:
- Understand the unique challenges facing the community as a whole
- Identify potential areas of concern, including those that may impact school safety
- Consider the perspectives of underserved and diverse communities
- Access innovative ideas from the community, as well as a pool of volunteers ready to execute on them
- Gain trust and credibility within the community
- Demonstrate their commitment to building a thriving community
- Obtain taxpayer buy-in on bonds and facilities planning
One 天美网站传媒传媒 partner recognized the importance of community input in their facilities planning process: 鈥淏eing able to reach more people has been the biggest thing. We felt it was really important to give our community a voice because they own the schools. They鈥檙e the taxpayers.鈥� By engaging the community early and often, the district was able to put their facilities bond to vote with confidence.
It鈥檚 important to acknowledge that even if community members don鈥檛 have children in the school system, they may still have innovative ideas and valid concerns.
Consider these two scenarios:
- Junior high students at the local school have no extracurricular activities, because there鈥檚 no funding or volunteers to run programs. These bored teens may turn to graffiti, loitering, or even petty crime, negatively impacting the local businesses. If the principal communicated these concerns, and the community was engaged on this issue, they may rally around programs that and keep them occupied.
- Community businesses may be interested in partnering with the high school to offer , designed to give credit to students who aren鈥檛 thriving in a classroom environment, and prepare them for work. This partnership helps businesses thrive, while also creating productive citizens.
In both scenarios, community participation in the schools helps the students, but also helps the community.
to reach out to parents, teachers, staff, students, and community members to weigh in on the most important qualities for their new principal. This early step helped the superintendent and search committee screen and interview applicants for the right fit, and ultimately informed a unanimous decision.
Principals are successful when their students are successful, both academically and as citizens of the community. Superintendents that support principals by providing the tools and guidance to engage their communities in will ultimately be creating higher-performing schools and thriving districts.
Finding common ground to move forward
A common challenge amongst education leaders right now is what鈥檚 seen as an unprecedented amount of division and polarization in their communities. Issues of equity, curriculum, safety, and politics are inundating strategic planning discussions, budget meetings, and town halls.
New principals looking to succeed and build strong ties in their school must use every resource available to tackle these issues鈥搕his includes the valuable insights from students, parents, and community members. Finding common ground among these groups is vital to building and executing a strategy to meet the district鈥檚 goals and help students thrive.
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