The Influence of Principals on Teacher Shortages

• In Event: Examining the Current State of the Teaching Profession: A Case Study of South Carolina

Abstract

This paper presentation investigates the critical influence principals have on mitigating or exacerbating teacher shortages. A review of the research on the topic - including how principals affect teacher retention, particularly for high-poverty schools will be provided from a national context and then targeted more specifically to South Carolina. Within South Carolina, an exploration of the relationship between principal and teacher turnover/retention will be examined by analyzing South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) data and National Center of Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data (CCD) from Academic Years 2016 to 2020. This presentation includes a South Carolina data overview, descriptive analyses of educator (teacher and principal) turnover from 2016-2020, aggregate turnover trends, and a commentary from active school leaders and teachers.

Principals may have some influence on the existing teacher shortage, and principal turnover could be the underlying factor. Interestingly, principals with less than two years of experience at their particular school equated to approximately 21% in South Carolina during the 2017-2018 AY. This suggests that roughly 21% of the public schools in South Carolina during AY 2017-2018 were led by principals who were fairly new to their school (0 or 1 year).

Research has provided evidence to support the relationship between principal turnover and teacher turnover. For example, Béteille, Kalogrides, and Loeb’s (2012) study found that teachers were 17% more likely to leave the year after a principal turned over. Similarly, Jacob, Goddard, Kim, Miller, and Goddard (2015), in exploratory analyses, found evidence that teachers were less likely to leave if their principals stayed. Finally, Henry and Harbatkin (2019) purport that principal transitions, resulting from voluntary departures, were associated with a 1.7 percentage point increase in teacher turnover.

Specifically, in addition to the descriptive data analysis, a qualitative phenomenological approach is employed with a purposive sample of 6 school personnel who were either assistant principals or teachers who have experienced principal turnover during the years of focus. The personnel interviewed were (2) assistant principals, (2) veteran teachers (i.e., 5 or more years of experience), and (2) early-career teachers (i.e., less than 5 years of experience). These individuals shared their narratives pertaining to the importance of principals for teacher retention, how principals can improve teacher retention, the climate and culture of the school pre-and-post principal turnover, how principal turnover impacted faculty and staff, how principal turnover impacted students, and the extent the principal turnover influenced their decisions to stay or leave. Interview data were coded and analyzed to highlight common themes to better understand the critical role principals occupy in the teacher shortage crisis in the state. Implications for policymakers will be discussed.

Author

• David G. Buckman, Augusta State University
  Presenting Author