Lee D. Mitgang, The Wallace Foundation
2003
The Wallace Foundation went to a lot of bother and expense to produce and publicize this 11-page policy brief, which is interesting as far as it goes - but doesn't go nearly far enough. Based on three separate studies commissioned by the foundation, it mainly concludes that we don't have an overall national shortage of people willing to take principals' jobs (though some places have a supply problem), but that the current pipeline doesn't do a good job of delivering first rate leaders into manageable jobs that enable them to boost student achievement. The implications, says author Lee Mitgang, are (1) to adjust incentives and working conditions, especially in places that aren't getting the principals they need; (2) to adjust recruitment and hiring practices to conform to "heightened expectations about principal performance"; and (3) to redefine the principal's job itself. So far, so good, and it may even remind you of the new Fordham-Broad "manifesto" called "Better Leaders for America's Schools." (If you haven't seen - and signed - that document, please go immediately to http://www.edexcellence.net/detail/news.cfm?news_id=1 and do so!) What's disappointing about the Wallace report is that it barely hints at the two touchy domains where the biggest and most contentious changes need to be made if schools are truly to get the kinds of leaders they need: the training and certification of elementary and secondary principals. Why so timid? You can get to the report at http://www.wallacefunds.org/frames/framesetnews.htm. Perhaps more valuable, you can obtain the three Wallace-funded studies that fed into it. The first is "A Matter of Definition: Is There Truly a Shortage of School Principals?" at http://www.crpe.org/pubs/pdf/mroza_princshortagewb.pdf. Second, "Who Is Leading Our Schools?: An Overview of School Administrators and Their Careers," at http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1679. Finally, look up "The Attributes and Career Paths of Principals: Implications for Improving Policy" at http://www.teacherpolicyresearch.org/Career%20Paths%20of%20Principals.PDF.
