Mobility within the Principalship

Principals, superintendents, and other administrators can and do move between jobs that carry the same official title. Such movement is reflected in position turnover (for example, as a principal or a superintendent moves from one school to another) but need not generate overall job vacancies. Our analysis generated little empirical support for the idea that there is a nationwide crisis in the labor market for school administrators. However, that does not rule out the possibility that certain types of schools are systematically having difficulty attracting and retaining school administrators. For example, urban schools serving low-income populations might systematically be losing principals to suburban schools serving high-income populations. This chapter focuses specifically on one type of school administrator, the principal, exploring whether the market for principals varies in systematic ways by school characteristics and the factors driving any relationships that exist.