Study Tracks Maine Principals’ Work Stability and Change
Contact: Media contact: Kay Hyatt at (207) 581-2761
ORONO– High turnover rates and the approaching retirement of more than half of Maine’s principals require immediate and concerted attention from the state’s education and policy communities, according to a University of Maine College of Education and Human Development study.
With a combined 25 years of experience in administration and teaching, and typically vested in the state retirement system, Maine K-12 principals are an aging population. Replacing them with outstanding educators will be paramount to school effectiveness and improvement, but changes in work conditions and incentives are necessary to boost the number of qualified candidates seeking and succeeding in the job, according to the authors of “The Maine Principal Study: Stability and Change Among Maine Principals, 1997-2001.”
Results of the second survey in a longitudinal study of Maine principals look at a range of issues influencing their ability as school leaders. The first survey was done in 1997, the second in 2001, and others will follow in 2005 and 2009. With a 53 percent final response rate, the most recent findings focus on 363 principals who served as the only administrator or the supervising administrator of a Maine school in 2001.
The study is providing needed data and insight into the workloads and high turnover among K-12 principals in Maine and nationwide, and the difficulty in filling these positions with qualified people. Authors are Professors Gordon Donaldson and Theodore Coladarci, and Donald Buckingham, principal of Sedgwick Elementary School and a student in UMaine’s Educational Leadership doctoral program.
While two-thirds of the principals have been in their current position for about seven years, one-third of the state’s principalships continue to turn over every two years, which has implications for sustained school leadership and improvement programs.
More than 50 percent of responding principals are over age 50, up from 39 percent in 1997.With a new generation of Maine principals rising in the next half decade and growing pressure for accountability and reform, wisdom and experience are being lost from leadership positions just when those qualities might be most needed, the report cautions.
In 2001, as in 1997, most principals expressed positive sentiments toward their work, finding it energizing and fulfilling, and the vast majority agreeing that the community takes a lot of pride in its schools. On the other hand, the work can also be depleting and stressful. These costs weighed against the benefits leave half of the respondents often wondering if the long hours, stress and intrusion on personal life are worth it.
Central to stress are the extraordinary supervisory responsibilities, the time and energy commitment, and the policy and resource uncertainties. The 2001 data show the average Maine principal is supervising 37 percent more staff, including an increase from 18 to 33 professional staff and 11 to 17 support staff. As in 1997, the supervisory responsibilities of the principal far surpass those typically expected of a private sector supervisor, where 15 to 20 staff are considered optimum, according to the report.
The comparative data between 1996 and 2001 also reflect that the average Maine principal is:
• Serving a slightly larger school, with mean enrollment up from 355 to 371.
• Working 58 hours a week, up from 56 in 1997. Half reported spending more than 60 hour per week on the job.
• Working in a school district described as rural (67 percent, the rest as suburban or urban. Proportions held roughly constant when principals reported the type of district in which they spent the majority of their careers.
Maine principals believe that “responding to people” and leading the instructional program lie at the heart of what they should be doing. Yet the range of activities and demands erodes their capacity to give full attention to this instructional leadership. The 2001 principals reported that most of their time devoted to personnel management, followed by public relations and student management. In 1997, the top three agenda activities were student management, personnel management and interactions with the education hierarchy.
In all, the patterns suggest that the work expected of Maine principals has not become any more reasonable, even with seemingly greater support from parents and communities. The picture emerging from the second data set suggests the need for state policy makers and school boards to take steps toward supporting principals’ efforts to lead the instructional program and school improvement. At a time when many districts are strapped financially, this could mean protecting funds for leaders’ salaries and professional development.
Copies of the study are available on the Web at http://libraries.maine.edu/cre/.