Investing in Leadership: The District's Role in Managing Principal Turnover

Abstract

This article presents the results of research into the impact of principal turnover on schools, and the ability of schools to mitigate the negative effects of frequent turnover by distributing leadership in the schools. The findings from this qualitative and quantitative analysis show that rapid principal turnover does indeed have a negative effect on a school, primarily affecting the school culture. Where there is high principal turnover, taking a coordinated approach to leadership distribution appears to mitigate at least some of the negative consequences of leadership turnover.

Redefining high performance in Northern Ireland: Deeper learning and twenty-first century skills meet high stakes accountability

“…Inquiry stance toward professional practice Calhoun and Joyce (2005) Capacity building through shared leadership Hallinger and Heck (1998, 2010a, b, 2011a, Mascall and Leithwood (2010) J Educ Change (2015) 16:327-348 335 (e.g., success models of an essay; Doyle 1983). One would expect that the acquisition of twenty-first century competencies would necessarily increase with task demand.…”

Introducing the concept of salutogenesis to school leadership research: problematizing empirical methodologies and findings

“…This acknowledgement that leader turnover is a desirable thing is mostly absent from the literature, so that the question of how to maximize the opportunities presented by it and how to use it to leverage improvement has largely gone unanswered empirically because of the prevailing pathogenic paradigm. For example, in Canada, Mascall and Leithwood (2010) 7 found that where there is high principal turnover, taking a coordinated approach to the distribution of leadership can mitigate its negative effects; quite a pathogenic view.…”

Student Achievement Differences as a Function of Principal Longevity

“…School districts should develop a plan to keep principals for a duration of a minimum of 4 years at the same school. In addition, Mascall and Leithwood (2010) concluded that school district leaders should encourage, support, and ensure the presence of leadership distribution in each campus to help with transition with principal turnover transition. In a similar investigation, Fink and Brayman (2006) conducted several case studies in different schools to determine the relationship between school leadership succession and educational change.…”

“…They determined that principal turnover usually has a negative influence on student achievement, some school leaders managed to maintain or prevent decline in student achievement. However, they were unable to improve it (Mascall & Leithwood, 2010). School districts should develop a plan to keep principals for a duration of a minimum of 4 years at the same school.…”

“…Therefore, more studies are needed to determine the relationship between student performance and principal turnover. In one such study, Mascall and Leithwood (2010) analyzed the influence of principal turnover on schools and sought to identify strategies to minimize its possible negative effects. They determined that principal turnover usually has a negative influence on student achievement, some school leaders managed to maintain or prevent decline in student achievement.…”