Principal Mobility in Philadelphia Traditional and Charter Public Schools, 2007-08 through 2015-16

www.phledresearch.org January 2019 Philadelphia Education Research Consortium Principal Mobility in Philadelphia Traditional and Charter Public Schools, 2007-08 through 2015-16 MATTHEW P. STEINBERG HAISHENG YANG ii | Pri n c i p a l M o b i l i t y i n P h i l a d e l p h i a Acknowledgements The authors are grateful for the feedback on drafts provided by Ruth Curran Neild, Kate Shaw, and Kathryn Carter at the Philadelphia Education Research Consortium/Research for Action. This work was made possible through the support of the William Penn Foundation. The foundation did not exercise editorial control over this report, and its contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the foundation. How this report was produced This report is the result of an ongoing collaboration between the Philadelphia Education Research Consortium and Dr. Matthew Steinberg, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. About PERC The mission of the Philadelphia Education Research Consortium is to provide timely, actionable, rigorous, and non-partisan research on the most pressing issues facing Philadelphia public education. To do this, PERC seeks to engage the region’s colleges and universities, nonprofits, and the Philadelphia public education sector in respectful, mutually beneficial research-practice partnerships. By providing Philadelphia’s leaders and citizenry with high-quality information about progress, challenges, and effective strategies in education, PERC aims to increase education opportunities and achievement for all Philadelphia students. PERC is based at Research for Action, a nonprofit education research organization in Philadelphia. Suggested Citation Steinberg, M., & Yang, H. (2019). Principal mobility in Philadelphia traditional and charter public schools, 2007-08 through 2015-16. Philadelphia: The Philadelphia Education Research Consortium. Principal Mobility in Philadelphia Traditional and Charter Public Schools, 2007-08 through 2015-16 Matthew P. Steinberg and Haisheng Yang • January 2019 Summary Effective principals improve student achievement, develop and retain teacher talent, and manage the organization and mission of schools. Since principals become more effective over time, attracting and retaining excellent principals is a high priority for all school districts. But public school districts in large cities like Philadelphia are especially challenged to provide every school with an effective school leader. Principal mobility—that is, transferring from one school to another or leaving the principalship entirely—is disproportionately concentrated in school districts serving more low-income students and has negative consequences for student performance. For these reasons, it is critical for policymakers and school leaders in Philadelphia to have a clear picture of the extent and nature of principal mobility. This report provides evidence on principal mobility among traditional public schools (TPS) in the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) and charter public schools located in Philadelphia during the 2007-08 through 2015-16 school years. The study uses individual-level data on all principals in traditional and charter schools provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. We describe the characteristics of principals in Philadelphia, the extent of principal mobility, and the characteristics of mobile principals and the schools that they exit. For this report, principal mobility is defined as occurring when a traditional or charter school principal does not return to the same school the following year. By this definition, a mobile principal is one who moved to another school in Philadelphia (either a traditional or charter school), moved to a Pennsylvania public school outside of Philadelphia, exited the principalship (i.e., was employed in another role in education), or left public education in Pennsylvania. Key findings • Principals in traditional public schools in Philadelphia are, on average, older, have more education experience, are more likely to be a racial minority, and earn higher salaries than charter school principals. • Experience in Pennsylvania public education among traditional and charter school principals has, on average, declined over time. From 2007-08 to 2015-16, average education experience of traditional public school principals declined from 22 years to 18 years. For charter school principals, experience declined from 18 years to 14 years. • Principal mobility is greater in the city’s charter schools than in its traditional public schools. Across the study period, the principal mobility rate was 24 percent in traditional public schools, compared to 35 percent in charter schools. • Principal mobility is greater among traditional public schools in Philadelphia than the Pennsylvania statewide average but comparable to other urban Pennsylvania districts. Statewide in Pennsylvania, the princi