Elementary and Secondary Education

School Characteristics and Climate

Table A-18-1. Number and percentage distribution of school principals, by school level, school type, and selected principal characteristics: School years 1999–2000 and 2007–08―Continued

Principal characteristic	Secondary
	1999–2000						2007–08
	All		Public		Private		All		Public		Private
Total, number	23,100		20,500		2,600		24,500		21,600		2,900
Total, percentage	100.0		88.6		11.4		100.0		88.0		12.0
Sex	100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0
Male	76.9		78.2		66.3		70.6		71.5		64.4
Female	23.1		21.8		33.7		29.4		28.5		35.6
Age	100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0
Under 40	9.9		10.0		9.6		18.7		19.0		16.2
40–44	13.1		12.9		14.6		14.4		14.6		12.9
45–49	22.8		23.1		20.4		15.1		15.4		12.8
50–54	32.8		33.5		28.0		21.0		21.5		17.3
55 and over	21.4		20.6		27.3		30.8		29.5		40.8
Race/ethnicity	100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0
White	86.6		85.6		94.5		85.0		84.1		91.2
Black	7.6		8.4		‡		9.2		9.8		4.9	!
Hispanic	4.0		4.1		3.1	!	4.1		4.5		‡
Asian	0.7	!	0.8	!	‡		‡		‡		‡
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	—		—		—		0.1	!	0.1	!	‡
American Indian/Alaska Native	1.1		1.1		‡		0.6	!	0.4	!	‡
Two or more races	—		—		—		‡		‡		‡
Highest degree earned	100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0
Bachelor’s or less	2.9		1.4		14.5		3.3		1.3	!	18.0
Master’s	56.1		55.7		58.6		60.8		61.0		59.5
Education specialist or professional diploma	29.5		31.3		16.0		26.6		28.6		11.8
Doctor's or first-professional	11.5		11.6		10.9		9.3		9.1		10.7
Number of years as a principal	100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0
3 or fewer	29.6		30.3		23.4		35.0		35.5		31.0
4–9	33.5		33.7		32.0		35.6		36.6		28.8
10–19	26.2		25.9		28.8		22.7		22.5		24.3
20 or more	10.8		10.1		15.8		6.6		5.4		15.9
Number of years of teaching experience prior to becoming a principal	100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0
3 or fewer	7.4		6.4		15.5		8.4		6.8		20.4
4–9	31.1		31.6		27.3		34.5		34.9		31.5
10–19	44.0		44.8		37.7		39.7		41.5		26.7
20 or more	17.5		17.2		19.6		17.4		16.8		21.4
Median annual salary, in constant 2010–11 dollars	86,500		88,600		67,800		89,800		91,900		68,900

— Not available.

! Interpret with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is 30 percent or greater.

‡ Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases or the standard error for this estimate is 50 percent or greater.

NOTE: Included in the total but not shown separately are principals in combined schools. This analysis focuses on principals in elementary and secondary schools. These principals made up 90 percent of all principals in 1999-2000 and 87 percent in 2007-08. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. In 1999–2000, "Asian" and "Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander" were not reported separately; therefore, "Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander" is included in "Asian." Respondents were not able to report two or more races in the 1999–2000 questionnaire. For more information on race/ethnicity, see Appendix C – Commonly Used Measures. "Education specialist or professional diploma” is a certificate of advanced graduate studies that advances educators in their instructional leadership skills beyond the master's level of competence. For a list of first-professional degrees, see Appendix D – Glossary. Annual salary was calculated in 2010–11 school year constant dollars and adjusted using the Consumer Price Index (CPI). For more information on the CPI, see Appendix C – Finance. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. For more information on the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), see Appendix B – Guide to Sources.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), “Public School Principal and Private School Principal Data Files,” 1999–2000 and 2007–08, and “Charter School Principal Data File,” 1999–2000.

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