Education Leadership: Evidence and Implications

1. Education Leadership: Evidence and Implications Principal Elizabeth Namba, right, visits a classroom at Hyde-Addison Elementary in Washington, D.C. as Principal supervisor Janice Harris, at rear, observes. Will Miller, President, The Wallace Foundation Meeting with the Hunt-Kean Leadership Fellows Austin, Texas August 1, 2019

2. Today’s discussion The Wallace Foundation New evidence that principal pipelines are a major strategy for improving student achievement districtwide How states can support development of principal pipelines in local school districts Discussion, Q&A

3. About The Wallace Foundation • The mission of The Wallace Foundation is to foster • improvements in learning and enrichment for disadvantaged children and • the vitality of the arts for everyone. • We work with grantee partners to develop -- then broadly share -- evidence-based, practical, effective approaches in our focus areas

4. Wallace’s policy engagement principles Full compliance with the law, in letter and spirit Say more only as we know more Support flexible approaches that allow for adaptation to local context

5. Current work in education leadership in 20 states and Washington, D.C. Minnesota New York Oregon Connecticut Wisconsin Pennsylvania Maryland Iowa Ohio Nebraska D.C. Virginia Kentucky North Carolina Colorado Missouri Tennessee California Oklahoma Georgia Florida

6. Today’s discussion The Wallace Foundation New evidence that principal pipelines are a major strategy for improving student achievement districtwide How states can support development of principal pipelines in local school districts Discussion, Q&A

7. Principals are being viewed differently The discussion is no longer about principals, but about systemic principal pipelines

8. Pipelines are a strategic approach to developing and supporting principals

9. Districts in the Principal Pipeline Initiative 9

10. An unusually robust study 10 • Matched comparisons with similar schools in the same state • 1,100 schools in pipeline districts • 6,300 comparison schools in non-pipeline districts

11. Pipelines had widespread, positive effect on student achievement • “We found no other comprehensive district-wide initiatives with demonstrated positive effects of this magnitude on achievement.” • -- Principal Pipelines: A Feasible, Affordable, and Effective Way for Districts to Improve Schools, RAND, 2019 Outperformance in math for elementary, middle and high school; for reading in elementary and middle school Notably, effects were positive and statistically significant for schools in the lowest quartile of student achievement Pipelines benefited all schools in a district, not just those with pipeline principals Benefits kicked in early, even beginning in the second year of implementation

12. Pipelines also improvedprincipal retention Principal turnover is costly for districts ($75,000 per principal) and disruptive for schools For every 100 new principals, pipeline districts saw nearly 6 fewer losses after two years and nearly 8 fewer losses after three years, compared with similar schools getting new principals in other districts in their state

13. Pipelines are feasible, affordable and adaptable Source: What It Takes to Operate and Maintain Principal Pipelines, Julia H. Kaufman, et al, 2017; The Principal Pipeline Initiative in Action, Brenda Turnbull, et al, 2016. All six districts were able to implement the pipeline components aligned and at scale Pipelines are 0.4% of annual district budgets, according to a RAND study of the six districts in the initiative Each district adapted pipelines to their own local context

14. Pipelines can be sustained – and continuously improved • Two years after Wallace funding ended all six districts continued to support pipelines with local funding • During the initiative, about 30% of funding came from Wallace, mostly for one-time investments in system supports • Pre-service preparation improved with greater emphasis on instruction • Job standards remained foundational to principals’ development Source: Sustaining a Principal Pipeline, Brenda Turnbull, Policy Studies Associates, 2019

15. Principal pipelines meet ESSA’s evidence requirements for school improvement Source: ESSA Evidence Review of the Principal Pipeline Initiative, Cristofer Price and Barbara Goodson, Abt Associates, 2019 • ESSA requires states and districts to use Title I money on evidenced-based approaches • Abt Associates review finds RAND’s study of principal pipelines meets: • Tier II designation for student achievement • Tier III designation for principal retention

16. What this all means Evidence demonstrates that: Principal pipelines can be a major strategy to improve student achievement districtwide; especially in the lowest performing schools Federal Title I dollars may be used for funding pipelines, in addition to Title II We believe that states and districts should strongly consider developing principal pipelines

17. Wallace’s strategy to support the spread of locally adapted pipelines • Offer of technical assistance to up to 90 districts • Supports a district assessment of current practice relative to the evidence from the pipeline study and to develop a plan to close the gaps • Using an evidence-based rubric • Facilitated by an expert paid for by Wallace • Offered to all districts nationwide with more than 50,000 students • Will offer to a random sample of districts with 20,000 to 50,000 students

18. Today’s discussion The Wallace Foundation New evidence that principal pipelines are a major strategy for improving student achievement districtwide How states can support development of principal pipelines in local school districts Discussion, Q&A

19. How states can support the development of principal pipelines in local districts • Supporting structures for pipelines • State political support • State fiscal support • State coordination and networking power • Assembling pipeline components • Leader standards • Principal preparation • Hiring and placement • Evaluation and support Source: How Can State Policy Support Development of Principal Pipelines in Local School Districts, Paul Manna, forthcoming.

20. Assembling components #1:Leader standards Adoption: Has the state adopted standards for educational leaders? Differentiating: Do state standards for educational leaders differentiate between leader roles, such as principals, assistant principals, superintendents, and other school leaders? Cross-cutting: Does the state use its standards for educational leaders to inform its development of other policies that influence the recruitment, training, work, and continued support of principals? Specificity and flexibility: Are state standards for educational leaders specific enough to help guide practice, but also flexible enough so local school districts can adapt them to meet their particular needs for principals? Floor not ceiling: Do state policies that rely on state standards for educational leaders allow local districts to augment state standards with their own standards for principals? Source: How Can State Policy Support Development of Principal Pipelines in Local School Districts, Paul Manna, forthcoming.

21. Assembling components #2:Principal preparation Standards and oversight: Do state standards for educational leaders to inform how states oversee and support institutions that prepare principals? Degree requirements: When states approve degree programs that prepare principals, do they demand that these degrees are relevant to the work that principals actually do? District and preparation program partnerships: Does the state create incentives for principal preparation programs to partner with school districts in shaping their program admissions criteria, curricular content, and other learning experiences? Flexibility among providers: Are state policies open to allowing a variety of providers to prepare and license principals, including school districts, while holding all providers to the same high standards? Source: How Can State Policy Support Development of Principal Pipelines in Local School Districts, Paul Manna, forthcoming.

22. Assembling components #3:Hiring and placement District authority: Does state policy empower school districts to strategically manage their processes for hiring principals and assistant principals, or can other local actors veto district preferences? Standards and licensing: Are state principal licensing policies informed by differentiated state standards for educational leaders? Licenses supporting practice: Do state principal licensing expectations encourage rigorous-practice-based experiences, not merely knowledge or experiences disconnected from relevant practice? Placement and evaluation incentives: Do state principal evaluation systems encourage principals to take on difficult school assignments that their districts believe provide a strong fit between principal capabilities and school needs? Source: How Can State Policy Support Development of Principal Pipelines in Local School Districts, Paul Manna, forthcoming.

23. Assembling components #4:Evaluation and support Standards for evaluation: Are required state principal evaluation policies guided by differentiated state standards for educational leaders? Local adaptation: Do required state principal evaluation policies allow for local adaptation? Development on the job: How well does state policy provide support for mentoring, coaching, and relevant professional development experiences for principals? License renewals that leverage expertise: For veteran principals, does the process of state license renewal steer principals toward productive activities that will continue their development while helping leverage their expertise to sustain district pipelines? Principal supervisors: To what extent does state policy enable principal supervisors to play supportive, mentoring roles for principals, or do state policy mandates overwhelm supervisors and turn them primarily into compliance officers? Source: How Can State Policy Support Development of Principal Pipelines in Local School Districts, Paul Manna, forthcoming.

24. Supporting structures #1:State political support • Political challenges for local districts • Advocates want every dollar to reach the classroom • State role: Support investments in systems and capacity • Some pipeline components require changes in traditional arrangements of power and influence • State role: Give districts power to shape prep program at institutions of higher education or operate prep programs themselves • Timeline to develop pipe • State role: Defend and promote pipeline work in districts based on the evidence Source: How Can State Policy Support Development of Principal Pipelines in Local School Districts, Paul Manna, forthcoming.

25. Supporting structures #2:State fiscal support • Especially important for smaller districts • Use leadership standards to guide state funding decisions and repurposing of existing funds • E.g., Link professional development to pipeline activities • Take a flexible approach to contributing funding to local initiatives Source: How Can State Policy Support Development of Principal Pipelines in Local School Districts, Paul Manna, forthcoming.

26. Supporting structures #3:State coordination and networking support • Foster experimentation on how to build pipelines in smaller and rural districts • Become collators, curators and distributors of model practices and tool to build pipelines • Convene meetings of district officials and experts to build partnerships and support peer learning • Align principal licensing requirements with the pipeline approaches • E.g., renewal credit for veteran principals for serving as a mentor or coach in a pipeline • In role of oversight of prep programs, encourage them to operate as hubs of pipeline activities that meet the needs of smaller communities • E.g., Northeast Leadership Academy at North Carolina State University Source: How Can State Policy Support Development of Principal Pipelines in Local School Districts, Paul Manna, forthcoming.

27. How states can support the development of principal pipelines in local districts • Supporting structures for pipelines • State political support • State fiscal support • State coordination and networking power The goal should be for each local school districts to have a lively ecosystem for talent development that ensures all schools bring on board excellent principals and then support them on the job. -- Leslie M. Anderson and Brenda J. Turnbull, Sustaining a Principal Pipeline, 2019 • Assembling pipeline components • Leader standards • Principal preparation • Hiring and placement • Evaluation and support Source: How Can State Policy Support Development of Principal Pipelines in Local School Districts, Paul Manna, forthcoming.

28. For more evidence and information – wallacefoundation.org