The average principal stays four years in the position, but that average masks big disparities, finds a new joint report by the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the Learning Policy Institute.
The report finds that as of the 2016-17 school year, 35 percent of principals had led the same school less than two years, while 11 percent stayed for a decade or more.
The report finds districts can keep school leaders longer by providing more professional development for incoming and veteran principals; working with them to improve school working conditions; stabilizing pay; giving principals more authority to identify and implement solutions to problems at their schools; and changing accountability systems to encourage effective principals to stay in challenging schools.
