Principals' Perspectives on Principal Evaluation Policies

• In Event: 66.086 - MTCC Roundtable Session 29
  In Roundtable Session: 66.086-4 - Can We Incentivize Success in Public Education? Compensation and Evaluation of Teachers and Principals

Abstract

Despite increased interest in principal performance and changes to principal evaluation since Race To The Top and the Every Student Succeeds Act, research on principals’ experiences with new evaluation policies is scant. Therefore, we use institutional theory to analyze how 76 middle and elementary school principals in Michigan and Connecticut understand their experiences with principal evaluation policies. We find that the cultural-cognitive elements of principal evaluation are prominent in all principals’ experiences, but that regulative aspects of these policies are especially salient for principals of lower-performing schools.

Authors

• Morgaen L. Donaldson, University of Connecticut - Storrs

• Madeline Mavrogordato, Michigan State University

• Peter A. Youngs, University of Virginia

• Shaun Michael Dougherty, Vanderbilt University

• John L. Lane, Michigan State University

• Reem AlGhanem, University of Connecticut - Storrs