Performance-Based Compensation Systems and Principal Labor Markets

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Hiring, Compensating, and Evaluating Principals: The Role of Gender, Quality Feedback, and Performance-Based Measures (Table 29)

Abstract

Prior research documented that the quality of school principals is inequitably distributed. Given the pivotal role that school principals play in improving student and school performance, this sorting pattern is a concern among policymakers. One possible way to address the problem is to use performance-based compensation systems (PBCS) to influence principal labor markets. This study investigated the impact of PBCS on principal turnover and hiring, using longitudinal administrative data obtained from the Tennessee Department of Education and unique school- and district-level PBCS data from 2012 to 2020. The study found no evidence of the impact of PBCS on principal turnover and hiring. However, it found the intertemporal effects of PBCS on principal turnover in the second and third years.

Author

• Hajime Mitani, Rowan University