Congressional Briefing: June 17, 2019

Principal Pipelines: A Feasible, Affordable, and Effective Way to Improve Schools

My work requires a lot of patience

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Date:

Monday, June 17, 2019

Time:

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Limited lunches provided

Location:

2043 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

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About the Briefing

Research across the decades has confirmed that effective school leadership is associated with better outcomes for students and schools. A high-quality school leader affects dozens of teachers and hundreds or thousands of students. Congress, recognizing this, permits Every Student Succeeds Act funding to be used to improve school leadership, and Title II-A of the Higher Education Act allows for partnership grants to develop school leadership programs.

A new RAND report finds that implementing “principal pipelines”—a strategic approach to the hiring, preparation, evaluation, and support of school leaders—can improve schools. In this briefing, the report’s lead author, Susan Gates, will discuss:

  • Feasibility: Were districts able to implement principal pipelines, and if so, what changed as a result?
  • Effectiveness: What was the overall effect of principal pipelines on key school-level outcomes? How did those effects vary by district and school characteristics?
  • Affordability: Are principal pipelines cost effective?

Susan Gates is a senior economist, director of the Office of Research Quality Assurance at the RAND Corporation, and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Her research focuses on school leadership, workforce management, and entrepreneurship and innovation. Gates is currently involved in an evaluation of an effort to improve university-based principal preparation and has led several evaluations of alternative preservice principal preparation programs. Gates has developed a synthesis of the evidence base on school leadership interventions and opportunities for supporting such interventions under the Every Student Succeeds Act and has conducted analyses on the U.S. Department of Defense acquisition workforce. Gates received her M.A. in Russian and Eastern European Studies from Stanford University and her Ph.D. in economic analysis and policy from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford University.

How to Attend

Registration for this event has closed. For more information about this or other events, contact the Office of Congressional Relations.

Can't Make It?

If you are not able to attend this briefing in person, we'll follow up with a video after the event. Contact Grace Evans if you'd like us to stay in touch.