June 1993
NCES 93-452
What types of prior work experience do elementary and secondary
public school principals bring to their job? (1) What percentage
hold teaching jobs before becoming principals, and for how many
years? What percentage hold other administrative and nonteaching,
nonadministrative jobs in elementary and secondary education before
becoming principals, and for how long? These and related issues
can be addressed with data from the NCES 1990-91 Schools and
Staffing Survey (SASS).
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF PUBLIC SCHOOL PRINCIPALS TEACH ELEMENTARY OR
SECONDARY SCHOOL BEFORE BECOMING PRINCIPALS? HOW MANY YEARS DO
THEY TEACH?
Traditionally, principals have been drawn from the ranks of
teachers. This practice provides the principalship with a pool of
candidates experienced at the classroom level and affords teachers
the opportunity to move into the ranks of administrators. The SASS
data indicate that this tradition continues. Nearly all principals
in the 1990-91 school year reported that they were teachers before
becoming principals (table 1). Those who taught averaged about 10
1/2 years of teaching. Even the younger principals (under 40)
averaged a substantial number of years of teaching (8 years) before
becoming principals.
TABLE 1. Percentage of principals who taught before becoming principals, and average years of teaching, by age: 1990-91 ------------------------------------------- Age Average group Percent years* ------------------------------------------- All 98.7 10.6 50 or over 98.5 11.3 40-49 98.9 10.6 Under 40 98.7 8.0 ------------------------------------------- *Includes only principals with teaching experience. SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1990-91.
(1) In this Issue Brief the assumption is made that all years in
administrative positions, excluding principalships, and all years
in nonteaching, nonadministrative positions occurred prior to the
first principalship year. (E.g., the 1990-91 SASS data indicate
that about half of all principals were previously assistant
principals or program directors, and nearly 10 percent were
guidance counselors. While the data in table 2 include the entire
period prior to the 1990-91 school year, the consistency between
the percentage reported in this table and the percentage who were
assistant principals or program directors prior to becoming
principals supports this assumption.)
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF PUBLIC SCHOOL PRINCIPALS HOLD OTHER SCHOOL OR
DISTRICT ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS BEFORE BECOMING PRINCIPALS, AND
FOR HOW LONG?
The principal's job requires not only an understanding of the
educational process at the classroom level, but the skills to
coordinate the efforts of a staff that includes teachers, other
administrative personnel, and other professional and
nonprofessional staff. About half of all principals in the 1990-91
school year came to their position with other administrative
experience at either the school or district level (table 2).
(Examples of other administrative positions at the school level
include department head and assistant principal, and at the
district level, curriculum specialist and subject matter
supervisor.) Those who held such positions averaged about 5 1/2
years in those positions before becoming principals.
TABLE 2. Percentage of principals who held administrative positions in education before becoming principals, and average years spent in those positions, by age: 1990-91 ----------------------------------------------- Age Average group Percent years* ----------------------------------------------- All 49.8 5.7 50 or over 49.8 7.0 40-49 51.3 4.9 Under 40 42.9 3.7 ----------------------------------------------- *Includes only principals who held other administrative positions. SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1990-91.
Since most principals held teaching positions before becoming
principals, this means that close to half came to their job with
both administrative and teaching experience. However, it also
means that about half came to their job with no administrative
experience in school or district positions.
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF PUBLIC SCHOOL PRINCIPALS HOLD NONTEACHING,
NONADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS IN ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
BEFORE BECOMING PRINCIPALS, AND FOR HOW LONG?
About 17 percent of all principals held nonteaching,
nonadministrative positions (e.g., guidance counselor, curriculum
specialist, librarian) at some point in their careers before
becoming principals, averaging about 6 years in those positions
(table 3). Additionally, most of them had experience in other
positions in their pre-principalship years: Many (almost 60
percent of the 17 percent) held other administrative positions at
the school or district level, and nearly all (about 98 percent of
the 17 percent) held teaching positions.
TABLE 3. Percentage of principals who held nonteaching, nonadministrative positions in elementary and secondary education before becoming principals, and average years spent in those positions, by age: 1990-91 ---------------------------------------------------- Age Average group Percent years* ---------------------------------------------------- All 16.7 5.9 50 or over 18.3 6.0 40-49 16.3 6.0 Under 40 12.8 4.3 ----------------------------------------------------- *Includes only principals who held nonteaching, nonadministrative positions. SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1990-91.
MAJOR FINDINGS
For more information on the Schools and Staffing Survey, see the
following reports:
Choy, S.P., Medrich, E.A., Henke, R.R., and Bobbitt, S.A. Schools
and Staffing in the United States: A Statistical Profile, 1987-88.
National Center for Education Statistics, NCES 92-120.
Hammer, C., and Gerald, E. Selected Characteristics of Public and
Private School Administrators (Principals): 1987-88. National
Center for Education Statistics, NCES 90-085.
Kaufman, S., and Huang, H. 1990-91 SASS: Sample Design and
Estimation. National Center for Education Statistics, NCES 93-449.
Issue Briefs present information on education topics of current
interest. All estimates shown are based on samples and are subject
to sampling variability. All differences reported are
statistically significant at the .05 level. In the design,
conduct, and data processing of NCES surveys, efforts are made to
minimize the effects of nonsampling errors, such as item
nonresponse, measurement error, data processing error, or other
systematic error.
The 1990-91 SASS data on average years of experience in other
positions differ from comparable 1987-88 SASS data where all
principals were used in the computation of average years. The base
for the 1990-91 data includes only those principals with the
particular work experience while the base for the 1987-88 data
includes all principals.
This Issue Brief was prepared by Charles H. Hammer, NCES, and Carol
L. Rohr, Pinkerton Computer Consultants, Inc. To obtain standard
errors for this Issue Brief or additional information about the
Schools and Staffing Survey, contact Kerry Gruber(202) 502-7349.