Little is known about the characteristics and perspectives of school business officers, those who have the ear of superintendents and who help make key decisions about the spending of millions of dollars of public funds in school districts. Due to equity concerns and the paucity of research regarding this key group of individuals, this research…

Principals' instructional leadership has been the focus of research for decades. Research shows that principals' impact on student achievement is second only to teachers (Grissom et al., 2021; Herman et al., 2017). Student literacy achievement concerns that continue trending nationwide, and specifically in North Carolina, indicate the need for…

Anecdotal evidence points to the importance of school principals, but the limited existing research has neither provided consistent results nor indicated any set of essential characteristics of effective principals. This paper exploits extensive student-level panel data across six states to investigate both variations in principal performance and…

Districts across the country are experiencing churn and uncertainty related to school staffing. In 2021, sixteen percent of teachers left their schools (National Center for Education Statistics 2022), and districts have struggled to fill the vacancies. In North Carolina, a survey of school districts identified over 11,000 vacancies that were…

Background: Recent empirical work shows that student teaching in a high-quality learning environment and with a highly effective cooperating teacher predicts the performance and retention of early-career teachers. Little is known about principal internships and their impacts on school leader outcomes. Purpose: To examine the characteristics of…

A foundational goal of education is to create a citizenry capable of making well-informed decisions for themselves. Over recent decades in the United States, accountability models have been enacted that hold teachers and educational leaders responsible for student outcomes. Selected Literature seems to suggest that these accountability measures…

This study profiles superintendents in North Carolina public-school districts for academic year 2020-2021. We focus on superintendent gender, race, educational experiences, highest degrees earned, and professional longevity; and personal characteristics such as age and marital and parenting status, and the relationship between gender and race and…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate the representation of African American female community college executive leaders in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Factors that played a role in the growth and development of these leaders on their professional journey were identified. The study also explored initiatives…

Anecdotal evidence points to the importance of school principals, but the limited existing research has neither provided consistent results nor indicated any set of essential characteristics of effective principals. This paper exploits extensive student-level panel data across six states to investigate both variations in principal performance and…

The purpose of the current study was to examine the experiences of women leaders in the higher education sector of North Carolina, United States of America (USA). The qualitative phenomenological study specifically explored the lived experiences and perceptions of 12 adult women leaders to better understand (1) the major perceptions on leadership…

Researchers have linked positive student outcomes, including student achievement, to high-quality school leadership. Due in part to this research, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and the North Carolina Principals and Assistant Principals' Association are interested in increasing the number of high-quality principals in North…

Trusting relationships play a crucial role in all aspects of school life. This study builds on this understanding by exploring the role gender and race/ethnicity plays in establishing trust between teachers and principals. Utilizing statewide working conditions survey administered in North Carolina, we employ both descriptive and analytic methods…

This technical appendix provides additional information about the sample, data, and estimation strategy used for a series of American Educator Panels (AEP) Data Notes published by the RAND Corporation in 2019. The Data Note series is intended to provide brief but incisive analyses of teacher and school leader survey results that may be of…

The purpose of this mixed-method study was to determine if specific interpersonal skills (trustworthiness, communication, empathy, and problem-solving) possessed by principals, as perceived by teachers, are important characteristics in creating and maintaining a positive school climate, increasing student learning, and retaining teachers in the…

This is the third and last paper in a series published by the National Alliance in partnership with Public Impact, highlighting the experiences of school leaders in charter schools across the country. While the impact school leaders have on student performance has been well documented, there has been little attention to how leaders' experiences…