Principals’ average time spent: Average hours per week that K–12 school principals spent on all school-related activities and average percentage of time per school year spent on various school-related tasks, by school type and selected school characteristics: 2020–21

		Average percentage of time spent per school year
School type and selected school characteristic	Average hours per week on all school-related activities¹	Internal administrative tasks	Curriculum and teaching-related tasks	Student interactions	Parent interactions
All principals	57.5	30.4	28.6	23.2	15.3

All public school principals	58.3	29.9	28.8	23.9	15.1

School classification
Traditional public	58.4	29.5	28.9	24.1	15.1
Charter school	58.0	33.3	27.9	21.1	15.0

Community type
City	59.6	30.1	30.6	22.4	14.7
Suburban	58.2	29.7	28.8	23.6	15.6
Town	57.7	29.4	28.0	25.6	15.0
Rural	57.5	30.0	27.2	24.8	14.9

School level²
Elementary	58.0	28.8	30.6	23.4	15.2
Middle	58.6	28.8	28.2	24.8	15.5
Secondary/high	59.0	32.8	25.9	23.7	14.4
Combined/other	58.0	30.9	25.4	25.2	15.5

Student enrollment
Less than 100	51.0	32.2	25.7	25.2	13.3
100–199	56.9	31.0	26.2	25.6	14.8
200–499	58.3	28.6	29.4	24.9	14.9
500–749	59.1	29.2	29.2	23.5	16.0
750–999	60.6	30.4	29.9	22.4	15.2
1,000 or more	61.0	33.6	28.2	19.6	15.1

Percent of K–12 students who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches
0–34	58.2	30.7	26.8	23.6	15.6
35–49	58.3	29.1	27.1	25.5	15.5
50–74	58.2	30.2	28.3	24.4	14.8
75 or more	58.5	29.3	30.9	23.2	14.8

Reported effect of COVID–19 on instruction³
Offering only distance-learning instruction	58.7	29.6	28.3	24.2	15.1
Offering a hybrid of in-person and distance-learning instruction	58.5	30.1	29.1	23.5	15.2
Offering only in-person instruction or no effect on the instruction offered	55.7	28.4	26.8	26.4	14.6

All private school principals	54.5	32.7	27.9	20.5	16.1

School classification
Catholic	59.0	35.0	24.1	20.8	16.7
Other religious	51.9	29.7	32.3	20.8	15.2
Nonsectarian	54.7	36.2	23.3	19.5	17.4

Community type
City	56.7	34.0	24.4	21.2	17.0
Suburban	56.7	34.2	25.4	20.4	17.0
Town	53.2	32.0	31.0	21.3	13.1
Rural	48.4	28.9	35.7	19.0	14.7

School level²
Elementary/middle	52.9	33.0	28.8	20.2	15.7
Secondary/high	57.2	34.1	22.7	22.9	15.5
Combined/other	54.5	32.4	28.5	20.2	16.3

Student enrollment
Less than 100	50.3	29.4	33.2	20.5	15.2
100–199	57.2	35.6	24.0	20.4	16.7
200–499	59.4	35.6	21.6	21.1	17.6
500–749	59.9	37.1	22.3	20.0	15.8
750 or more	59.9	38.1	22.2	17.2	16.8

Reported effect of COVID–19 on instruction³
Offering only distance-learning instruction	52.3	33.3	25.5	20.2	18.1
Offering a hybrid of in-person and distance-learning instruction	57.7	33.9	25.6	20.5	16.6
Offering only in-person instruction or no effect on the instruction offered	50.9	31.1	30.9	20.5	15.3

¹Includes hours spent during the school day, before and after school, and on the weekends.

²Elementary schools offer at least one grade of K to 4, and the number of elementary grades is higher than the number of middle grades. Middle schools offer at least one of grades 5 to 8, and the number of middle grades is greater than the number of elementary or secondary grades. Secondary/high schools are defined as schools that enroll students in more of grades 9 through 12 than in lower grades. Combined/other schools include all other combinations of grades, including K–12 schools. School level categories in the 2020–21 NTPS differ from those in previous survey administrations; caution should be exercised when comparing estimates by level over time.

³Principals were asked to report the current effect of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) on instruction at the school at the time they completed the survey. Thus, this was the reported effect on instruction at the time the survey was completed, not a summary of the school year.

NOTE: Data are weighted estimates of the population. Detail may not sum to 100 because the percentage of time spent on “other” activities is not shown.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Principal and Private School Principal Data Files,” 2020–21.