Indicator: Effective program and school leadership
Definition
Schools are led by effective principals and school leaders.
RECOMMENDED METRIC(S)
• Percentage of school leaders rated as effective, using an evaluation system that includes multiple measures, such as the Administrator Evaluation component of the Tennessee Educator Acceleration Model (TEAM)
Type(s) of Data Needed
Assessment data; surveys; observations; rubricsWhy it matters
Pre-K and K–12 school leaders play a key role in student learning, school discipline and culture, and teacher professional growth. For instance, a study of principals’ value-added to student achievement—one approach to assessing school leader effectiveness—found evidence of meaningful variation across principals. In that study, highly effective principals raised achievement by the equivalent of two to seven months of additional learning in a given school year, whereas ineffective principals lowered achievement by the same amount. Principals also impact the degree to which teachers collaborate and grow professionally, as well as hiring and retention of more effective teachers. According to research by the Consortium on Chicago School Research, effective school leadership is characterized as being inclusive and focused on instruction. For example, effective principals set high standards for teaching, encourage teachers to take risks and try new approaches, and offer regular feedback on classroom instruction.
Research on principal value-added suggests that principal effectiveness tends to vary more widely in schools that serve a high share of students from low-income households. In addition, multiple studies show that the likelihood of attending a school led by a first-year principal, one with less experience, or one without a master’s degree is higher for students from low-income households, students of color, and those with low performance.
What to know about measurement
There is no clear consensus in the field about the best way to measure principal effectiveness, though emerging evidence suggests that approaches relying on multiple measures hold promise, including schoolwide growth data, scores on an evaluation rubric, and staff perception surveys. Examples of staff surveys that can be used to measure effective school leadership include the Effective Leaders sub-component of the UChicago 5E’s survey instrument, Panorama Teacher and Staff Survey, or The New Teacher Project’s (TNTP) Instructional Culture Insight Survey. However, no research has emerged at this point to show that staff surveys are valid and reliable measures of school leader effectiveness, and survey measures run the risk of offering a biased or potentially politicized rating of a leader, underscoring the importance of examining multiple measures. We have identified sample tools with an emerging evidence base; however, other instruments may also be appropriate to measure this indicator. We also note that a school’s value-added score is not an appropriate proxy for measuring the effectiveness of a principal, as it can reflect both the principal’s effectiveness and other school-level factors that influence students’ growth on learning outcomes.
Source frameworks
This indicator appears in seven source frameworks reviewed for this report. Our recommendation to rely on multiple measures of performance to assess school leadership quality is consistent with the recommendations of several source frameworks, including the Great Public Schools Indicators Framework.
References
The framework's recommendations are based on syntheses of existing research. Please see the framework report for a list of works cited.