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Purpose: Principals are critical to school improvement and play a vital role in creating inclusive and high-performing schools. Yet, approximately one in five principals leave their school each year, and turnover is higher in schools that serve low-income students of color. Relatedly, high rates of teacher turnover exacerbate challenges associated with unstable learning environments. Our study examines the extent to which principal turnover influences teacher turnover. We build on past work by exploring how the relationship between teacher and principal turnover differs in urban, high-poverty settings and by examining the effects of chronic principal turnover. Research Methods/Approach: We draw on a student- and employee-level statewide longitudinal dataset from Texas that includes all public K-12 schools from school years 1999–2000 to 2016–17. We estimate teacher-level models with school fixed effects, allowing us to compare teacher turnover in schools leading up to and immediately following a principal exit, to otherwise similar schools that do not experience principal turnover. Findings: Teacher turnover spikes in schools experiencing leadership turnover, and these effects are greater among high-poverty and urban schools, in schools with low average teacher experience, and in schools experiencing chronic principal turnover. Implications: Improving leadership stability, especially in urban schools experiencing chronic principal turnover may be an effective approach to reducing teacher turnover. Principal and teacher turnover and their relationship with each other requires further investigation. The field would benefit from qualitative research that can provide important insights into the individual decisions and organizational processes that contribute to principal turnover.
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This content will become publicly available on January 4, 2026
Performance-Based Compensation Systems and Principal Job Performance
The inequitable distribution of principal effectiveness raises concern among policymakers. Principal sorting likely contributes to wider achievement and opportunity gaps between low- and high-need schools. As a possible policy tool, policymakers proposed performance-based compensation systems (PBCS). Tennessee was one of the states that supported the implementation of PBCS. This study examined the relationship between PBCS and principal job performance in the state, using longitudinal administrative data, principal evaluation data, and unique PBCS data from 2012 to 2019. The study did not find consistently significant, positive relationships between PBCS and principal job performance. However, the relationships were generally more pronounced among high-need schools. The study concludes with detailed discussions about the results, the assumptions behind PBCS, limitations, and implications.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1749275
- PAR ID:
- 10564858
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.3102
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- American Educational Research Journal
- Volume:
- 62
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0002-8312
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 414-455
- Size(s):
- p. 414-455
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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