Who is Leading our Schools?
An Overview of School Administrators and Their Careers
There is concern that now, as state and federal governments are increasing school accountability requirements and relying on school administrators to promote improvement, schools and districts will not be able to attract and retain enough qualified people to fill such positions. This report develops a conceptual structure for understanding the careers of schools administrators and describes what is known about those who hold such positions and how their characteristics have changed over time. It also describes how factors such as wages, working conditions, entry barriers, and incentives influence individuals’ decisions to seek particular administrative positions. Based on their review and analysis of existing research and empirical data, the authors find that there is little evidence of a nationwide crisis in the labor market for school administrators. They do, however, identify three key areas of concern: substantial variation in financial rewards at the state and local levels, barriers to entry into the field that affect people’s willingness to become administrators, and an administrative population with many members nearing retirement.
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Document Details
- Copyright: RAND Corporation
- Availability: Available
- Print Format: Paperback
- Paperback Pages: 174
- List Price: $28.50
- Paperback Price: $22.80
- Paperback ISBN/EAN: 0-8330-3353-0
- Document Number: MR-1679-EDU
- Year: 2003
- Series: Monograph Reports
Contents
Summary PDF
Preface
All Prefatory Material PDF
Chapter One
Introduction PDF
Chapter Two
Understanding the Career Flow of School Administrators PDF
Chapter Three
Overview of Current School Administrators PDF
Chapter Four
Movement Into and Out of the School Administrative Career Field PDF
Chapter Five
Movement Within the School Administrative Career Field PDF
Chapter Six
Mobility Within the Principalship PDF
Chapter Seven
Conclusions PDF
Appendix A
General Analysis of Schools and Staffing Survey PDF
Appendix B
Analyses of Schools and Staffing Survey Data on Principals' Earnings and Experience PDF
Appendix C
Analysis of Principals' Reports of School Problems PDF
Appendix D
Using Current Population Survey Data to Examine School Administrators' Careers PDF
Bibliography PDF
The research described in this report was supported by the Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds.
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