Elementary Principals' Backgrounds, Stability, Moves, and Departures - Evidence from Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin. (Paperback)

The objective of this study is to investigate and characterize elementary principals' backgrounds, individual and school level factors associated with leadership stability, and principal career paths and exit behaviors in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin, states that represent the bulk of the upper Midwest in America. This study provides preliminary evidence based on the use of state administrative data on Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin elementary schools and principals. As a whole, the data set includes 4,000 to 4,200 principals per year from 1997 to 2007 across the four states' elementary schools as well as school level characteristics, student demographics, school structure, and school location. For the first phase of the study, the characteristics and academic preparation backgrounds of elementary school principals in each state are explored. In particular, the study focuses on the extent to which principals in one state may have received their undergraduate or graduate training in one of the neighboring states, the extent of selectivity of the institutions attended, and the extent the institutions differ. The second phase of the study investigates the mean length of stay and principal tenure models for elementary principals in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Then, using only Missouri data, a school level model of mean tenure and a principal level model of mean length of stay is employed. Finally, the study's last analysis employees a Cox Proportional Hazard Model to three alternative outcomes for Missouri elementary principals: (1) elementary principal exits the profession; (2) elementary principal transfers to a different school in the same district; or (3) elementary principal moves to a different school in a different district. Findings from this study identify that a large share of school principals receive both their undergraduate and graduate training in the state in which they are employed as principals. Variation in the internal production of school administrators would appear to be related to the presence and distribution of regional comprehensive colleges and universities that produced the majority of undergraduate and graduate degrees. Findings suggest that higher relative salaries are associated with longer stays, or perhaps individuals achieved higher salaries by staying longer. In addition, more experienced principals tended to stay longer in one place. In regard to school factors associated with principal length of stay, school demographics had mixed effects on longevity; although within a five-year period, about half of Missouri elementary principals who started in a given school are no longer in that school. Moreover, those leaving within the first five years are likely to exit the profession entirely.