WHO WILL LEAD? THE PRINCIPAL SHORTAGE.

School principals have a tremendous impact on making a school successful.

But not enough educators want the job.

Don Anderson's job as a school principal has changed a great deal since he began his career in 1965 in Adams county, Colo. "When I started my career more than 30 years ago, things were much simpler. The focus was on making sure students learned the 'Three R's (reading, writing and arithmetic).' I had time in my day to sit down and have a cup of coffee with someone on my staff or talk to a student. Now I have to worry about so much more. Basically, any problem society is facing is found in the schools, and it is now the principal's personal responsibility to address it."

Joanne Cockrell, principal of Fox Technical High School in San Antonio, Texas, has also seen changes, "When I became a principal, I saw it as the best way to help students. I took the job because I loved the job, and I still do. Unfortunately, the job has changed so much that a lot of principals don't love it anymore. Many of my peers are choosing to retire. In fact, half of the principals in my school district will retire at the end of the year."

Texas is not alone. Many students across the nation returned to schools last fall without full-time principals. In Vermont, one out of every five either resigned or retired at the end of the school year. Washington state saw 15 percent of its principals do the same. In New York city, students in 163 schools started the school year with a temporary principal. The shortage is becoming a national crisis. Students already facing numerous challenges are now attending schools that have no leadership.

The focus of education reform over the last several years has been to improve schools by working to improve teacher quality and increase the number of teachers in the classroom. Because of persistent criticisms from parents and taxpayers that school districts were too "top heavy" with administrators, funds that once went to administration, were redirected toward teachers. While the need to improve teacher quality and increase the number of teachers in schools is extremely important, so is the need to have principals and administrators to lead schools down that road to success.

"Teachers need to have a principal who can provide a clear instructional direction and work with us to develop curriculum so we can provide the best education for our students," says Vicki Gonzales, who has taught for 11 years in the Denver public school system.

"I see it as my responsibility to show teachers how to set and achieve goals to improve student performance so that they can teach their students how to do the same," Cockrell says.

"The importance of school leadership is the next step in school reform," says Missouri Senator Steve Stoll, chair of the NCSL Task Force on School Leadership.

"One of the most important reasons to look at the subject of school leadership is the tremendous impact school principals have on student learning and successful schools," he says. "Any time we talk about education reform and improving learning for students, a strong principal is mentioned as being an important part of the package.

Legislatures in recent years have worked to improve education by focusing on higher standards, greater accountability, more stringent testing, and the training and retention of teachers. A missing link in the overall education improvement package has been the recruitment and retention of school leaders.

"Education leaders in the states have failed to convey to legislators the crisis facing schools due to the shortage of qualified principals," says Maryland Delegate and former high school principal David Rudolph.

"Few legislators understand the level of the problem. The shortage of school principals should have been put on the table as soon as we started to look at the teacher shortage. Regrettably it was not, so now it is time to put the principal on the agenda."

Studies consistently show that exemplary schools have a principal who is an effective leader. It is the principal who sets the tone for the school and engages all of the education community: teachers, students, parents and other staff in an effort to improve student learning. "School leadership and school effectiveness are directly related," says Utah Senator David Steele. "We at the state level must work to make sure schools have principals who can lead their teachers and staff in providing the best possible education for all students."

States have struggled to address the factors studies and research attribute to the shortage of school principals: the lack of qualified and interested candidates; the changing role of the principal; the discrepancy between the responsibility of the position and the pay; and the lack of preparation and professional development of interested candidates.

THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE PRINCIPAL

"The job has become enormous," says Colorado Senator Norma Anderson. "Dealing with personnel issues; monitoring school budgets; ordering supplies; coordinating bus schedules; monitoring the cafeteria, hallways and playgrounds for safety; disciplining students; and working as the liaison between the school, parents and the community, as well as being the instructional leader of the school, are expected tasks for today's principals. The responsibility put on them is more than one person can handle."

Changes in the structure of districts with charter schools and vouchers offering choices for parents unhappy with public education are pulling qualified teachers and principals away from established schools. "Adding to an already overwhelming role, principals are facing the lack of authority to lead. Control from above on how to run schools makes it even more difficult for principals to be effective leaders," Anderson says. "School boards and other policymakers have to become more innovative in the way they structure the leadership. The principal has to have more control."

The focus to improve student performance to meet standards set by state legislatures has increased the pressure. Principals are being held accountable for their school's performance. Situations calling for discipline are becoming increasingly more volatile. "I never thought of carrying personal liability insurance as a principal," says Don Anderson. "Now it is a necessary part of the job as more principals are being sued personally for things that may go wrong in their school."

The average elementary principal works 54 hours a week at the school doing their "regular" work. Most spend at least another eight hours a week supporting students by attending extra-curricular activities. Considering the changes in the position and the increased stress, it isn't hard to understand why so many current and future principals find the job daunting.

A SHRINKING CANDIDATE POOL

The burgeoning number of principal positions has nothing to do with the location or size of a school. School districts across the country are struggling to fill vacancies.

The number of positions is expected to grow between 10 percent and 20 percent through 2008. Exacerbating the shortage is the aging pool of current principals; 40 percent will be eligible to retire in the next six years. Many of them are so frustrated with the working conditions that they are opting to retire as soon as they can. And many retirement packages are set up so that even if principals could be coaxed to work longer, it would not benefit them financially.

Diversity is also an issue. Although 40 percent of public school students are minorities, 50 percent of all principals are white males. The number of women principals has increased dramatically in the last 13 years to represent 35 percent in 2000-01 (from a mere 2 percent in 1987-88). But only 16 percent of the nation's principals are minorities. Of those, 11 percent are African American, 4 percent are Hispanic, and less than 1 percent are Asian American.

Many have the perception that principals' salaries are not commensurate with the job they are expected to do. "When you look at the increased stress, longer hours and increased accountability principals are facing these days, they are frustrated that their average salary is not much more than what veteran teachers are being paid," says Darrel C. Rud, president of the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP).

"Don't get me wrong, teachers deserve every penny they earn and more. We in the principal's office would appreciate having fair compensation for our time, as well," he says.

"Why become a principal when you can become a master teacher and make the same amount of money without the responsibility?" asks Senator Anderson.

As one alternative to addressing the shortage, NewJersey Representative Craig Stanley suggests that legislatures look at "restructuring schools and passing laws that will allow the principal to work with teachers to provide instructional leadership, with a separate business manager to make sure things run smoothly."

Others believe it is important to encourage current teachers to seek principal positions. Leslie T. Fenwick, program officer for the Southern Education Foundation says that "there is no reason to look beyond our classrooms to fill principal vacancies. Forty-seven percent of the nation's teachers have master's degrees, many in administration. Our challenge is to encourage those who are qualified to assume leadership roles."

TRAINING THAT HELPS

Traditional training for principals has consisted of theory and policy taught by university professors relying on academic models. Candidates have been taught to manage with a top-down rather than a team approach. Although theory is an important component of principal training, recent studies have shown that the skills and qualities most necessary to succeed include problem analysis, data collection, organizational ability, decisiveness, effective communication skills and stress tolerance.

"We have been disappointed with the traditional teacher and leadership training programs," says Vincent Ferrandino, executive director of NAESP. "Most have not been able to move from teaching theory to actual practice in an effective manner.

The issue of continuing professional development is also important. Even veteran principals feel that they are not prepared for the reality of the job.

Many feel isolated having left their network of peers in the ranks of teachers. They also feel a lack of constructive criticism and supportive supervision.

"In my own experience, and as I've discussed this with other principals nationwide, we feel as though we're constantly going back to the drawing board," says Rud. "As new approaches and techniques are developed to better prepare principals for doing our jobs, all of us need to have access to that training.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

In the face of the crisis, mentoring programs are being developed. Professional organizations allowing principals an avenue for supporting each other are also growing. Alliances between institutions of higher education and school districts are being formed. An example is the Center for Educational Leadership housed at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. The center works with school districts and businesses in the San Antonio area to provide the most up-to-date and relevant training possible for future principals, as well as continuing education for current principals. Program participants are referred by their school districts.

"Principals need to be prepared to handle the various situations they face in a day. Theory is important, but aspiring principals must be shown that most of what they will be facing will not come out of a book. They must be prepared to be open minded and handle each situation as it comes," said Thomas Sergiovanni, executive director of the Center for Educational Leadership. "Working in collaboration with school districts to create mentoring programs is important. Principals need a network of peers to alleviate the isolation and helplessness many feel."

"Legislatures need to look at ways to provide state incentives for teachers to become principals. The impact of the principal shortage on education and how it can be addressed must be brought to the forefront of the entire education reform movement," says Delegate Rudolph.

But how? What can legislators do? The experts suggest:

* Change their perception of the position.

* Examine the current structure of the job.

* Improve training programs.

* Create incentives for recruiting teachers, women and minorities.

* Develop higher standards for licensing.

* Revamp retirement packages to allow principals to continue to work without sacrificing current or future benefits.

Legislatures can look at the work they've already done on teacher quality and build on that. "Rather than completely re-inventing the wheel, legislators and other state policymakers can look at the work that has already been done to improve teacher quality. Much of the legislation passed to address the shortage of quality teachers can be expanded upon or modeled after to include principals," says Maryland's Rudolph.

Frances Groff specializes in education leadership issues at NCSL.

WHAT CAN STATES DO ABOUT THE PRINCIPAL SHORTAGE?

Finding how states can best address the lack of qualified candidates for principal and superintendent positions will be the thrust of a new task force convened by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Chaired by Missouri Senator Steve Stoll, the group of lawmakers, legislative staff and educators will meet over the next 12 to 18 months to study the school leadership dilemma and determine the role of state policy in solving the problem.

The task force will then make recommendations for legislators, which will be outlined in a publication to be distributed at the beginning of the 2003 legislative sessions.

NEW LAWS MAY HELP

Of the 39 bills proposed during 2001 state legislative sessions addressing issues relating to school leadership, 10 were enacted as of June 2001.

Maryland and Virginia passed laws designed to attract retired teachers to join the ranks of school principals and superintendents by allowing them to work without jeopardizing their retirement income.

Hawaii passed a law to provide incentives to exemplary principals and vice principals to stay at the school level and to accept long-term assignments in hard to staff schools, including those with special needs and high teacher turnover. The statute also encourages exemplary teachers to become vice principals.

Alabama and Hawaii have strengthened the requirement that school administrators have a background in education. And Wyoming now exempts superintendents from certification requirements by the Wyoming Professional Teaching Standards Board.