Involvement by States in Principal Preparation

This survey is a first-of-its-kind effort to capture the current state of affairs in state principal preparation, licensure policy, principal tenure, and data collection on the output of these policies. This report explores how states are using their authority to increase the supply of effective principals focused on raising student achievement. The findings are based on self-reported data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This report includes state policy recommendations to drive needed reforms and gives the educational community new insights on promising efforts by states to improve the supply of high-quality principals. This report, supplemented by the individual state snapshots and the state database, details the findings. It is hoped that these will be used to drive needed reforms and give state policymakers new insights on what their peers are doing to improve the supply of high quality leaders.

Briggs, K., Cheney, G. R., Davis, J., & Moll, K. A. (2013). Operating in the dark: What outdated state policies and data gaps mean for effective school leadership. Dallas, TX: George W. Bush Institute. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED560209.pdf