Most school leaders in North Carolina report that their district is a good place to work and learn, according to a statewide survey conducted in December 2025.
More than 80% of respondents believed that there was “an atmosphere of trust between district and school leadership,” and over 90% of school leaders would recommend their districts to a friend as a place to work.
These results came from the first principal working conditions survey, piloted in 11 districts across all eight regions of the state. The survey asked principals and assistant principals about the quality of communication and support from their district leaders, their ability to support teachers and diverse learners, and access to learning opportunities, among other areas.
The survey was modeled on North Carolina’s biennial teacher working conditions survey, said Timothy Drake, an associate professor of education leadership and policy at North Carolina State University, and one of the co-authors of the survey report. Drake was part of a core group of principals and researchers who worked on the pilot for over a year before launching it last December.
Their aim was to elevate school leaders’ voices and gain a more complete understanding of the challenges they face in their jobs than the teacher working conditions survey could provide, said Donna Bledsoe, the principal of Cedar Ridge Elementary School in Surry County, N.C., and a principal who started advocating for a dedicated survey in 2023.
“We believe that principal working conditions are teaching and student learning conditions as well,” said Bledsoe.
The principal working condition survey can help superintendents focus on areas to improve in the school leaders’ experience. It’s a data set useful not just for North Carolina—the survey can be a blueprint for other states interested in launching their own versions, Drake said.
An advisory body of principals and superintendents was formed soon after to shape the survey with Drake. Funding for the pilot—$75,000—came from the NC Collaboratory, a state-formed agency that promotes research in K-12 education, among other areas.
Over 400 principals and assistant principals participated in the pilot. The survey had a 92% response rate, and most school leaders said they felt supported by their district leadership. However, the survey also pointed to areas where districts need to do more to help school leaders:
- 17% of respondents disagreed that they had enough time and resources to attend professional development.
- School leaders wanted more differentiated PD that would match their needs.
- Many school leaders reported that they don’t have enough time to experiment with new ideas and evaluate their impact in their schools, and that they don’t have enough time to network with other leaders.
- 21% said they needed more support from their district to address the needs of neurodiverse learners, academically gifted students, and multilingual learners.
- Over 60% indicated that they needed more data to make informed decisions about their schools.
Bledsoe is confident that despite the gaps highlighted in the survey, school leaders’ overall positive attitudes are a good sign for principal retention.
“Beyond money, a huge factor for retention in all our roles is that we feel supported and valued, and when we have data from surveys like this, it allows us to ensure that staff feel that way,” said Bledsoe.
Survey shows appetite for learning, coaching, and fewer administrative tasks
School leaders want more time and resources to attend professional development, especially on how to manage student behavior and meet the needs of diverse learners. While a majority agreed they received coaching and feedback from their district leaders to help their growth, they still listed coaching as a top need under their PD preferences.
The survey also breaks down how school leaders spend their working hours at school. Thirty-one percent of school leaders spent four to six hours a week managing student behavior, 27% spent the same amount of time on instructional planning, and 21% spent that amount of time on administrative tasks.
A large share of school leaders reported spending 55 to 60 hours on school-related activities, which matches the national average and is well above the typical 40-hour work week.
“It’s astonishing how much additional time has to be used to get the job done. Our folks are spending a ton of time outside the workday,” said Michelle White, the superintendent of 2,600-student Martin County Schools, one of the districts that participated in the survey.
While White has regular check-ins with her principals, and has sent out all-staff surveys before, the working conditions survey has helped White identify where her school leaders need help. Better communication from district leaders is one area. White’s also keen to add more differentiated learning opportunities that match school leaders’ needs. Newer school leaders may need training on how to do classroom observations; more experienced leaders may need help with coaching teachers on the needs of diverse learners.
She’s planning to survey her school leaders before she hosts them at a summer leadership retreat to discover what they want to learn.
“It’s going to be a bit open-ended. There may be some suggestions to check boxes in things they’re interested in, but then there’s also going to be just … what they want,” said White.
Superintendents can add professional learning opportunities for school leaders. But improving their work-life balance, or levels of well-being, is a difficult task.
“We have to have some honest conversations about what we can take off their plate,” White said.
School leaders have invested substantial time and effort as part of districtwide efforts to improve student achievement.
“How do you continue the excellence but also make sure that our folks don’t get burned out?” White said. “There’s no magic answer to that.”
Creating a reliable data pipeline
The survey data can help superintendents streamline their check-ins with school leaders, with a stronger focus on well-being, or instructional leadership, Drake said.
“As a superintendent, I would also make sure my principal supervisors knew these data inside and out, … to understand how they can help [school leaders] based on that feedback,” he added.
Following the pilot, the advisory group is preparing to expand the survey statewide in October. Bledsoe and Drake are hopeful the survey will reach more school leaders in the next round, including those from some of the state’s larger districts in the state. In the follow-up round, Drake said the survey will go out to individual school leaders rather than through school districts.
A wider, more representative dataset may convince the state’s department of public instruction to find a permanent home for the survey.
“We would present the data back with the hope that [an institution] like DPI would pick it up, but that the legislature would see that this is something they should fund alongside the teacher working conditions survey.”
