Giving Compass' Take:

• Research shows that high-quality principals can help advance student achievement. Implementing principal pipeline initiatives are feasible, affordable, and effective for schools. 

• The author points out that is very rare for education interventions to show any effects on student achievement, but principal pipelines demonstrated positive effects on student achievement district-wide. How can donors leverage this data and prioritize funding toward principal improvement plans?

• Read about the benefits of coaching principals. 

Research across the decades has confirmed that effective school leadership is associated with better outcomes for students and schools. A high-quality school leader affects dozens of teachers and hundreds or thousands of students. Congress, recognizing this, permits Every Student Succeeds Act funding to be used to improve school leadership, and Title II-A of the Higher Education Act allows for partnership grants to develop school leadership programs.

A new RAND report finds that implementing “principal pipelines”—a strategic approach to the hiring, preparation, evaluation, and support of school leaders—can improve schools. In this briefing, the report’s lead author, Susan Gates, discusses:

  • Feasibility: Were districts able to implement principal pipelines, and if so, what changed as a result?
  • Effectiveness: What was the overall effect of principal pipelines on key school-level outcomes? How did those effects vary by district and school characteristics?
  • Affordability: Are principal pipelines cost effective?

Read the full article about principal pipelines at RAND.