Opinion
School & District Management Letter to the Editor

Principals Need Access to Support

October 30, 2018 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

I read with gratitude each piece of Education Week‘s special report on principals (“Principals Under Pressure,” October 17, 2018). As it demonstrates, a principal’s job is demanding, complex, and rewarding; it also requires incredible vision, focus, and passion. One element the series missed was the role that districts and nonprofits can play in systemically supporting principals.

We don’t have to wait for a principal to report being “overwhelmed” to assign them a coach. We can look at the data and see that almost all first-year principals need help with time management and system creation. We can proactively offer those supports long before they ask. The formula for more systematic support is simple: Ask principals what they need, identify programs that meet those needs, and match programs to people.

My organization—The Chicago Public Education Fund—surveyed all Chicago public school principals in 2018 and had an 82 percent response rate. We partnered with the district and the city’s charter networks to design programming for 300 principals in response to principals’ concerns. Nearly 40 principals are receiving the kind of time-management supports highlighted in the report, and others are receiving specific instructional supports or help with culture and climate. More than 150 of the principals are learning directly from a colleague on myriad topics including equity in decision-making, effectively serving diverse learners and providing student social-emotional supports.

Principals in these programs are 60 percent more likely to improve, and Chicago’s principal retention rate is significantly higher than the urban district average. If we wait until principals say they need help, we are already too late. We must take a proactive approach to support, or we will keep losing too many principals, too soon.

Heather Anichini

President and CEO

The Chicago Public Education Fund

Chicago, Ill.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the October 31, 2018 edition of Education Week as Principals Need Access to Support

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Opinion A Good Principal Knows When It's Time to Leave
I didn’t leave my job because of burnout; I stepped away from being a school leader because it was in everybody’s best interest.
Matthew Ebert
4 min read
Conceptual illustration of someone handing off a baton to someone else over a completed puzzle.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
School & District Management Principals Tell Politicians on Capitol Hill: We’re Burning Out
Students' mental health top principals' growing list of concerns.
6 min read
People walk outside the U.S Capitol building in Washington, June 9, 2022.
Visitors walk outside the U.S Capitol building in Washington on June 9, 2022.
Patrick Semansky/AP
School & District Management Women Superintendents Experience Bias on the Climb to Leadership
Interpersonal slights and inequities make it hard for women to land the job and stay in it.
3 min read
Woman stands in front of a staircase in different colors. She is about to walk up the stairs. Concept of standing in front of a challenge and finding the right solution and courage to move on.
mikkelwilliam/E+
School & District Management Fewer of Today's Superintendents Are at Retirement Age
A new survey of superintendents adds to what we know about the people who lead the nation's school districts.
4 min read
Conceptual illustration of money, salaries and data.
iStock/Getty