Mapping the School Leadership Pipeline

• In Event: School Leadership Across Contexts

Abstract

Recent education reform and scholarship have been marked by increasing recognition of the importance of school leadership for school success, yet there has been little systematic investigation of the process whereby qualified personnel prepare themselves, seek out, and obtain leadership positions. Drawing on longitudinal administrative and survey data, we map the school leadership pipeline in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the nation’s fourth-largest district. Specifically, we use individual and school characteristics to identify: which teachers form leadership aspirations, which teachers are “tapped” by their principals for leadership positions, which teachers obtain administrative credentials, which apply (and which are selected) to the district’s mandatory school leader preparation program, and which are ultimately hired by the district to be school leaders.

Authors

• Jason A. Grissom, Vanderbilt University

• Demetra Kalogrides, Stanford University

• Susanna Loeb, Stanford University

• Nathaniel A. Nakashima, Stanford University