Dynamic Leadership Succession: Strengthening Urban Principal Succession Planning

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
April L. Peters-Hawkins ◽  
Latish C. Reed ◽  
Francemise Kingsberry
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Assistant Principals ◽  
Succession Planning ◽  
Urban School District ◽  
Leadership Succession ◽  
Principal Succession ◽  
Dynamic Leadership ◽  
Leadership Transitions ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Succession Model

The Dynamic Leadership Succession model is used to analyze a leadership succession case in an urban school district. The qualitative findings show that the district did not forecast school leadership needs well; however, the principal sought to develop and mentor teacher leaders as her assistant principals. Second, sustaining efforts within the district were, at times, haphazard, as demonstrated by the two study participants as they were inducted into their respective roles of principal and assistant principal. Finally, the district failed to deliberately plan for leadership transitions.

scholarly journals Build It and They Will Come! Or, Built to Last? Key Challenges and Insights into the Sustainability of Nonprofit and Philanthropy Programs and Centers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Rooney ◽  
Dwight Burlingame
Keyword(s):  
Succession Planning ◽  
Academic Programs ◽  
Leadership Succession ◽  
Funding Sources ◽  
Advisory Boards ◽  
Leadership Transitions ◽  
Revenue Sources ◽  
Nonprofit Studies ◽  
Key Informant

Using results from 22 key informant interviews from 15 different universities, we analyze why various centers/programs on philanthropic and nonprofit studies started, their key revenue sources, the diversity of funding sources, the role of leadership, succession planning, and what they might have done differently to make things better. These case studies provide insights as to why some centers/programs fail, others barely survive, yet some thrive. While the old saying, “It’s better to be lucky than good” remains true. We found that many of the things we teach in our academic programs work well when leading academic centers: diversify income streams, do not become too reliant on one donor, provide for leadership transitions and succession plans, raise money for endowments, and build advisory boards.

Examining the planning and management of principal succession

2012 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally J. Zepeda ◽  
Ed Bengtson ◽  
Oksana Parylo
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Succession Planning ◽  
School Systems ◽  
Collaborative Partnerships ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Principal Succession ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Planning And Management ◽  
Leader Succession ◽  
System Leaders

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine principal succession planning and management by analyzing current practices of handling school leader succession in four Georgia school systems.Design/methodology/approachLooking through the lens of organizational leadership succession theory, the practices of school systems as they experienced changes in school leadership were examined. Participants included superintendents, assistant superintendents, other central office leaders, and principals. A multiple‐case approach was selected with semi‐structured interviews providing the major source of data.FindingsFindings suggest the following: there is a difference in the sense of urgency for the planning and management of the succession of principals; the development of aspiring leaders was identified as a critical component of planning and management of succession; mentoring was an essential practice through the succession process; and reliance on collaborative partnerships with outside organizations was highly valued.Practical implicationsThe implications of the study include a call for further research to determine the differences in leader succession planning and management needs related to the varying contexts. In addition, the study implies that building collaborative partnerships with university preparation programs and other external professional development organizations may assist systems in the planning and management of principal succession.Originality/valueThe originality of this study stems from the lack of literature that directly examines the experiences and practices of principal succession. The findings can inform school system leaders of succession planning and management issues and practices that exist in the four systems studied. As leadership becomes more recognized for its impact on student achievement and school performance, it is imperative that succession is managed and planned to ensure sustainability and effectiveness.

School performance trajectories and the challenges for principal succession

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 262-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda C. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School Principals ◽  
Transformational Change ◽  
Urban School District ◽  
New Principals ◽  
New Schools ◽  
Principal Succession ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Principal ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use empirical data on new principals to clarify the connection between different succession situations and the challenges their successor principals face. Design/methodology/approach – The study draws on two waves of interview data from a random sample of 16 new elementary school principals in a major urban school district in the USA. Findings – New principals face distinct practice challenges depending on the nature of their successions. The less planned the succession, the less information and knowledge the new principal tends to possess. The more discontinuous the new administration’s trajectory is with the previous administration, the greater the staff resistance that the successor principal tends to face. Research limitations/implications – Few studies systematically examine how succession situations differ in schools that are in need of transformation vs those in need of stability. This study addresses this gap by illuminating the varied processes of succession and highlighting specific mechanisms that link these processes to different organizational trajectories. Practical implications – For district officials, this study suggests that principals in unplanned successions need greater support in quickly gathering information about their new schools while principals in discontinuous successions need greater expertise in how to balance trust-building and accountability in their attempts to promote transformational change. Originality/value – This study’s primary value is its detailed articulation of how certain characteristics of succession situations are associated with specific types of challenges. Only studies at this level of specificity can be effective guides to practitioners and policymakers who are charged with preparing, selecting, and supporting new principals and their schools.

Assistant principal leadership development: a narrative capture study

2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Petrides ◽  
Cynthia Jimes ◽  
Anastasia Karaglani
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Principal Leadership ◽  
Assistant Principals ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Assistant Principal ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Leadership Challenges ◽  
Teacher Professional

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge base on the ways in which assistant principals view their roles, and on the potential challenges involved in a distributed leadership model. Design/methodology/approach – The study employed a narrative capture method, in which assistant principals from two large urban school districts were asked to relate and self-interpret two leadership stories through a web-based narrative capture form. A total of 90 stories were collected from 45 assistant principals. Participants rated their stories based on a set of leadership indicators (including method of decision making and type of teacher interaction present in the story, among others); the results were analyzed statistically. Findings – Overall, participants tended to view their roles in terms of instructionally focussed leadership. However, leadership challenges emerged in several areas of leadership practice, including operational management and teacher professional development (PD). Demographic factors were found to influence leadership perceptions and practices. Research limitations/implications – This study begins to fill the empirical gap on assistant principal leadership roles, practices, and perceptions. Further research, using other methods (e.g. observation), is needed to collect evidence of in situ leadership practices of assistant principals, and how those practices impact and relate to school objectives for teaching and learning. Practical implications – The study sheds light on the leadership development needs of assistant principals and on the importance of ongoing, tailored PD, based on factors including where leaders are in their careers and how they envision their roles. Originality/value – This paper contributes to nascent scholarship regarding assistant principal school leadership.

The Assistant Principalship: A Keystone or a Stepping Stone

2021 ◽  
pp. 002205742110323
Author(s):  
David M. Schmittou
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Assistant Principals ◽  
Job Rotation ◽  
Assistant Principalship ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Constant Change ◽  
Brick And Mortar ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Culture And Climate ◽  
Brick And Mortar Schools

Schools are dynamic environments surrounded by static brick and mortar. Schools are a complex entanglement of systems clinging to normalcy led and composed of individuals seeking growth and progress. There is constant turnover as students move through the systems, gaining mastery, seeking support, and receiving guidance. Employees similarly move often as they change roles and responsibilities, as cultures emerge and evolve, and as individuals retire, are hired, or move on to other positions, commonly referred to as “job rotation.” This constant change affects a school’s culture and climate as each is achieved through sustained efforts. When change is present within the school leadership, specifically those identified as assistant principals within their organizational hierarchy, the impact on school culture may be even more dramatic than the effects felt with the turnover of students and teachers.

School leaders' preferences for teacher applicant characteristics in a large urban school district

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Kyle Ingle ◽  
Namok Choi ◽  
Marco A. Munoz
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Factor Structure ◽  
Assistant Principals ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Urban School ◽  
Urban School District ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Urban District ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Significant Difference

PurposeWe surveyed educational leaders in a large, urban school district in the southeastern United States, examining: (1) the factor structure of scores from a new measure of administrators' preferred teacher applicant characteristics, and (2) the relationships between administrator demographics and their preferences.Design/methodology/approachWe implemented a non-experimental, cross-sectional survey design using the Preferred Teacher Applicant Characteristics Survey (PTACS). We undertook descriptive and exploratory factor analyses in order to examine dimensions and underlying patterns among the 31 survey items. The retained factors served as the dependent variables in our multiple regression analyses.FindingsWe identified a four-factor structure: (1) personal, (2) professional, (3) student outcomes, and (4) demographics. Our analyses suggest that there was not meaningful variability in administrators' preferred characteristics of applicants across racial and gender variables, but revealed a significant difference between principals and assistant principals for applicant demographics.Research limitations/implicationsOur findings are limited in their generalizability to the respondents from a single urban district who completed our survey in spring 2018. Although we cannot establish causation, the significant difference between principals and assistant principals for demographics may result from principals feeling greater pressure from district targets to hire diverse staff than their assistant principal counterparts. It is important to note that preferences for teacher applicant characteristics are different from actual hiring decisions and the availability of preferred characteristics.Originality/valueOur study is the first large-scale use of the instrument in a large US urban school district, a context, which poses significant challenges to the education of youth as well as the hiring and retention of educators.

scholarly journals Designing and Piloting a Leadership Daily Practice Log: Using Logs to Study the Practice of Leadership

2021 ◽  
pp. 155-195
Author(s):  
James P. Spillane ◽  
Anita Zuberi
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Sampling Period ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Cognitive Interviews ◽  
School Year ◽  
Ethnographic Studies ◽  
Limited Sampling ◽  
The Social ◽  
Conducting Research ◽  
Study Participants

AbstractThis article aims to validate the Leadership Daily Practice (LDP) log, an instrument for conducting research on leadership in schools. Using a combination of data sources—namely, a daily practice log, observations, and open-ended cognitive interviews—the authors evaluate the validity of the LDP log. Formal and informal leaders were asked to complete the LDP log for 2 weeks; observers shadowed a subsample of leaders in each school, 1 day per week. Using the three sources of data, the authors analyzed interview responses (specifically, the participants’ interpretations of the log); they matched log entries with observer recordings; and they compared (a) the characteristics of the social interactions that were entered into the log with (b) the overall sample of interactions that occurred while observers shadowed participants. The study shows that LDP log entries capture school leadership interactions as recorded by independent observers; it also demonstrates that study participants, with some exceptions, were not biased toward reporting certain types of interactions over others. Still, some log terminologies were problematic for participants, as was the limited sampling period of 2 weeks. The authors propose ways to (a) change the LDP log to reflect the concerns raised by participants in the cognitive interviews and (b) alter the sampling scheme to capture leadership around the school year. The LDP log is less costly and time-consuming than in-depth ethnographic studies, and it is an important tool for researchers who aim to collect data in schools, one that reaches beyond surveys.

scholarly journals Held Down and Held Back: Systematically Delayed Principal Promotions by Race and Gender

AERA Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 233285842092929
Author(s):  
Lauren P. Bailes ◽  
Sarah Guthery
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Assistant Principals ◽  
School Principal ◽  
School Level ◽  
Assistant Principalship ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Education Experience ◽  
Black Principals ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Many

Recent scholarship highlights the many benefits of diversity among principals, including improved teacher retention and student outcomes. We use survival analysis to assess the probability and time to promotion for 4,689 assistant principals in Texas from 2001 to 2017. We find that race and gender are associated with the probability of promotion to school leadership. Holding education, experience, school level, and urbanicity constant, Black principals are least likely to be promoted and wait longer for promotion when compared to White assistant principals. Additionally, findings suggest that even though women have over a year more experience on average before being promoted to assistant principal, they are less likely to be promoted to high school principal, and when they are, it is after a longer assistant principalship.

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