Principal Key to
Teacher Retention
Given the importance of teacher-retention efforts among other issues, this research highlights the importance of the Principal in shaping the culture of a school

Study Highlights Importance of Principals in Teacher-Retention Efforts
By Brenda Iasevoli on September 22, 2016 10:05 AM

A new study suggests that schools districts take a closer look at the principal job if they want to get to the root cause of teacher turnover and find ways to prevent it.

Susan Burkhauser, institutional research associate at Loyola Marymount University, outlines her study in a paper titled "How Much Do School Principals Matter When It Comes to Teacher Working Conditions?," published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.

Burkhauser bases her work in part on the intuitive assumptions that working conditions are a prime factor in a teacher's decision to stay or go and that principals may be in the best position to shape working conditions.

Principals, she says, can influence a teacher's perception of the job by changing actual conditions-by offering more academic and moral support, more opportunities to develop teaching skills and advance their careers, more say in school policy, and the like.

What's new about Burkhauser's study is that it suggests that a teacher's perception of working conditions is closely related to his or her perception of the principal.

That is, the way a teacher sees her principal can shape the way she perceives conditions in the school, even before any changes are made, and regardless of what else is going on in the school or district.

Sincerely,
Delio G. Diaz
Executive Director
DASA
dgdiaz@bellsouth.net
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