“We Need Leaders, Not Managers”: Central Office Leaders’ Perspectives on Redefining Effective Principals in a Post-Pandemic Society

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 4:55 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Superintendent and Central Office Administrator Perspectives (Table 23)

Abstract

We draw on 177 interviews with central office leaders in over 30 districts to understand how COVID-19 shifted ideas about effective principal leadership. We examined two cross-sectional sets of data – during 2021 and 2022 – and found that at both timepoints, central office leaders reconceptualized principal leadership, valuing new types of qualities and practices in school leaders. Specifically, central office leaders described the need for principals who are resilient, problem-solving, equity-centered, focused on social-emotional learning, and politically savvy. These findings have implications for talent management, as we consider these central office perspectives in our development of leadership preparation, recruitment, hiring, support, and retention. This study suggests we may need a new type of principal leadership in a post-COVID society.

Authors

• Christine M. Neumerski, University of Maryland

• Ellen B. Goldring, Vanderbilt University

• Angela M. Cox, Vanderbilt University

• Laura K. Rogers, University of Virginia

• Mollie Rubin, Policy Studies Associates

• Anna Moyer, University of Alabama