It has been an eventful year. We’ll soon have a new president in office. The U.S. Department of Education’s future may be in jeopardy. And, despite the millions of federal and state dollars spent on academic recovery from the pandemic disruptions, student achievement and attendance is still only slowly ticking up.
Throughout the year, Education Week has tried to gauge how school leaders think about big and small shifts in their schools via a weekly (unscientific) poll in The Savvy Principal newsletter. From big-picture questions on safety and academics to more personal ones on morale and workloads, principals gave us a regular peek into what they’re thinking.
Here are the 10 poll questions with the highest number of respondents. Some of these opinions may surprise you.
1. Ghouls and ghosts? No, thank you!
The question of whether students should be able to dress up for Halloween was a hot debate. Most principals still allow costumes—though some have put a twist on it. To make the holiday more culturally and financially inclusive, some schools host “book character” days and parades, where students dress up like their favorite literary characters. Some principals have banned costumes but not without pushback from parents.
2. Do principals feel safe in their buildings?
Principals are on the front lines of keeping their schools safe. There were 39 school shootings this year that resulted in injury or death, as well as other incidents of violence, fights between students, and student behavior that can put educators on edge. Largely, though, principals thought they were safe in their buildings.
3. The scourge of chronic absenteeism continues.
Student attendance—and what it means for engagement and a sense of belonging—worries principals. They put in extra efforts before and after breaks and long weekends to ensure they have some way of reengaging students. They host “club rush” weeks, celebrate student accomplishments, and have even taken to social media in a serious way to keep up school spirit.
4. Are snow days virtual learning days? Principals have a surprising take.
After the pandemic, districts adopted a mishmash of snow day policies, including virtual learning on those days. The idea is to avoid closures so the school year doesn’t stretch on and students don’t lose out on valuable instruction time. You might think most principals would back this decision, but that’s not the case.
5. Most principals feel student literacy has declined.
Students’ reading abilities are a problem across grades. Add to that the tug-of-war on what “evidence-based” literacy curriculum actually means, and principals, as instructional leaders in their buildings, have a big problem on their hands. No wonder most principals feel the needle of improving literacy levels hasn’t moved.
6. Principals are nearly evenly split on whether they have a good work-life balance.
They run or hit the gym in the morning. They take lunch-hour walks in their schools. Every so often, they may even take a long weekend. Principals don’t have much time to relax, but more than half felt they’ve struck some kind of balance between work and leisure.
7. How did students react to the election results?
The Harris vs. Trump election was a divisive one—and many principals expected their students to be affected by the polarizing views around them. Principals prepped, training teachers on how to deal with controversial questions or opinions, keeping a check on student behavior, and making sure that students of color weren’t marginalized. But in the end, principals reported that students were largely matter-of-fact about the results.
8. How are principals feeling about the future of the Education Department?
A bill to kill the Education Department and fulfill President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign promise has already been filed. But it won’t be easy to dismantle the department. Other presidents have tried and failed. With several other contentious issues to wade through—like immigration—the Trump administration may push this one off for later. More principals seem to be counting on that.
9. The election was an anxious time for principals. Their fears may continue.
This poll, conducted a week before Election Day, indicated that school leaders were feeling on edge. Principals worried that despite their attempts to keep conversations calm and neutral, their schools would become flash points for political and culture wars. Those fears might not abide any time soon: The potential for deportations, changes to policies affecting transgender youth, and increased parent activism is sinking in now.
10. Principals know that teacher morale is low.
For principals, the verdict on teachers’ morale, and their giant workload, is clear. Three-quarters of principals said teacher morale is low, even though research has found a large difference in teachers’ actual morale levels and what principals peg them to be.
