Leslie M. Anderson | Brenda J. Turnbull | Erikson R. Arcaira:

School districts can improve the chances that a new principal will be ready for success on the job by managing systems of principal preparation, selection, and support. And the management of this kind of principal pipeline, like other work that school districts do, can draw on data to inform decisions.

But just as the idea of intentionally crafting a principal pipeline is a relatively new one for school districts, bringing data together to inform pipeline management is also new. This report explores the possibilities. It describes work already being done in the six districts participating in The Wallace Foundation’s Principal Pipeline Initiative:

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, North Carolina

Denver Public Schools, Colorado

Gwinnett County Public Schools, Georgia

Hillsborough County Public Schools, Florida

New York City Department of Education, New York

Prince George’s County Public Schools, Maryland

These districts have taken steps to define what they want from their principals and to improve the chances that principals will be able to deliver (Turnbull, Anderson, Riley, MacFarlane, & Aladjem, 2016). The idea of crafting data systems to support work on principal pipelines had its origins in the practical needs of the evaluation of the initiative, which gathered extensive data from the districts on principals and schools over many years before and during the operation of the initiative. But then, as the districts took more and more intentional approaches to managing the career opportunities of their aspiring and sitting principals, they took advantage of these Leader Tracking Systems (LTSes) in a number of ways. Compelling displays of in- formation are helping district leaders address issues of school leadership.
This report discusses not only ways to use LTSes but also hard-won insights about how to build them and roll them out. It draws on interviews with system developers, directors of talent development, and other district leaders in fall and winter 2016-17. This report is not intended as an evaluation of the districts’ work. Our analysis is intended to inform other practitioners about the lessons learned and the opportuni- ties revealed in the process of building and using an LTS.