Table 212.15.

Percentage distribution of principals in public elementary and secondary schools, by school locale and selected characteristics: 2017-18

[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Selected characteristic	Total			City			Suburban			Town			Rural
1	2			3			4			5			6
Total, all principals	100.0		(†)	100.0		(†)	100.0		(†)	100.0		(†)	100.0		(†)
Sex
Male	46.3		(0.59)	39.3		(1.15)	45.6		(1.14)	49.6		(1.42)	53.1		(1.30)
Female	53.7		(0.59)	60.7		(1.15)	54.4		(1.14)	50.4		(1.42)	46.9		(1.30)
Race/ethnicity
White	77.7		(0.49)	60.8		(1.16)	78.5		(0.92)	87.6		(1.00)	89.7		(0.78)
Black	10.5		(0.41)	20.1		(0.95)	9.4		(0.68)	5.0		(0.68)	4.5		(0.54)
Hispanic	8.9		(0.36)	14.9		(0.87)	10.2		(0.69)	4.6		(0.72)	3.1		(0.40)
Asian	0.9		(0.12)	2.1		(0.37)	0.8		(0.20)	0.4	!	(0.15)	‡		(†)
Pacific Islander	0.2		(0.04)	0.1	!	(0.05)	0.2	!	(0.08)	0.5	!	(0.15)	‡		(†)
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.7		(0.11)	0.6	!	(0.19)	‡		(†)	0.6		(0.16)	1.6		(0.32)
Two or more races	1.0		(0.13)	1.4		(0.28)	0.7		(0.21)	1.3	!	(0.45)	0.9		(0.25)
Age
Under 40	16.7		(0.48)	17.5		(0.92)	14.8		(0.79)	16.6		(1.20)	18.4		(1.07)
40 to 44	20.2		(0.52)	19.6		(1.07)	22.1		(0.94)	18.7		(1.27)	19.1		(0.98)
45 to 49	23.2		(0.49)	22.7		(1.00)	24.5		(0.99)	23.6		(1.37)	22.0		(1.12)
50 to 54	17.6		(0.55)	18.0		(1.09)	17.5		(0.91)	17.4		(1.25)	17.3		(0.91)
55 and over	22.3		(0.51)	22.2		(1.01)	21.0		(0.91)	23.7		(1.36)	23.2		(1.08)
School level
Elementary	68.3		(0.28)	71.1		(0.48)	74.3		(0.43)	64.9		(0.79)	59.5		(0.69)
Secondary	22.3		(0.29)	21.3		(0.43)	21.3		(0.44)	28.3		(0.87)	21.5		(0.69)
Combined	9.4		(0.26)	7.6		(0.49)	4.4		(0.35)	6.8		(0.73)	19.0		(0.72)
Highest degree earned
Bachelor's or less	1.8		(0.22)	2.1		(0.27)	1.2		(0.25)	2.3		(0.67)	2.1	!	(0.66)
Master's	61.8		(0.65)	61.8		(1.15)	62.7		(1.14)	59.5		(1.76)	61.6		(1.29)
Education specialist1	25.9		(0.60)	23.8		(0.95)	23.5		(0.98)	31.8		(1.62)	28.0		(1.28)
Doctor's or first professional	10.5		(0.41)	12.3		(0.77)	12.6		(0.77)	6.4		(0.75)	8.3		(0.69)
Number of years as a principal
3 or fewer	36.7		(0.69)	39.2		(1.31)	34.3		(1.18)	37.3		(1.63)	37.0		(1.27)
4 to 9	35.7		(0.65)	34.7		(1.25)	37.6		(1.04)	33.6		(1.78)	35.5		(1.29)
10 to 19	23.8		(0.60)	23.1		(1.12)	25.1		(1.11)	23.6		(1.55)	22.9		(1.10)
20 or more	3.8		(0.26)	3.0		(0.43)	3.1		(0.42)	5.5		(0.89)	4.7		(0.57)
Years of full- and part-time     teaching experience prior to     becoming a principal
3 or fewer	4.6		(0.26)	4.9		(0.50)	4.6		(0.51)	5.6		(0.85)	3.8		(0.40)
4 to 9	38.1		(0.62)	37.8		(1.28)	40.9		(1.14)	33.7		(1.57)	37.1		(1.30)
10 to 19	46.1		(0.60)	47.3		(1.31)	44.6		(1.08)	46.4		(1.76)	46.6		(1.28)
20 or more	11.2		(0.40)	10.1		(0.78)	9.8		(0.73)	14.2		(1.27)	12.5		(0.92)

†Not applicable.

!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.

‡Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.

1 Education specialist degrees or certificates are generally awarded for 1 year's work beyond the master's level. Includes certificate of advanced graduate studies.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding and cell suppression. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), "Public School Principal Data File," 2017-18. (This table was prepared May 2020.)