The Challenges and Joys of Leading Islamic Schools

EDUCATION The Challenges and Joys of Leading Islamic Schools

ISLA’s groundbreaking report provides insight into Islamic school principals’ working conditions

BY SHAZA KHAN

The Islamic Schools League of America’s (ISLA; theisla.org) latest research report, which paints a portrait of Islamic school principals that has, until now, been based on anecdote and conjecture, reveals that most are satisfied, despite the numerous challenges faced in their role.

ISLA supports the country’s approximately 300 full-time Islamic schools by facilitating professional networking, conducting research on Islamic education, creating and curating resources, as well as providing professional development to address the training needs of principals and teachers.

This past year, as educators’ needs kept changing due to Covid-19’s unpredictable nature, ISLA increased efforts to conduct research that could help drive data-informed decision-making. To that end, it launched quarterly pulse surveys that could respond to and yield data relatively quickly that was otherwise unavailable on Islamic schools.

ISLA’s second pulse study, which profiled Islamic school principals, included their characteristics, salaries, sources of challenges and joys (www.theisla.org/principalsreport). It was launched in response to multiple requests from schools requiring benchmarking data to assist in setting principal salaries and recruiting new hires. As this data was otherwise unavailable, ISLA devised a survey to administer with its constituent principals, constructing the questions in a manner that would uphold the respondents’ anonymity, given the highly sensitive nature of the survey items, such as questions about their salaries and benefits.

The survey sought to obtain only one response from the school’s highest-ranking administrator, whether this was a principal, head of school or superintendent. The survey received 107 responses, approximately onethird of the entire full-time Islamic school principal population, that fit the participant criteria. The report highlighted important — and previously unknown — factors, among them that Islamic school principals are more highly educated than their private school counterparts. While 70% of the latter hold an MA degree or higher, 85% of Islamic school principals fit into this category. Furthermore, nearly three-quarters of respondents indicated that they have 16 years or more years of experience in education.

Yet, their years of experience as a principal are significantly lower. Approximately 40% stated that they have only one to five years of experience in that role, whereas the National Center for Educational Statistics reports that the average private school principal has 10 years of experience. This raises questions about why Islamic school principals have so few years of experience. For example, is retention a problem and, if so, why?

ISLA’s survey also included an openended question about principals’ biggest challenges. Overwhelmingly, they reported their workload and the lack of support as their biggest challenges. Thirty respondents shared comments reflecting this theme. Following this, many others noted difficulties in hiring and retaining highly qualified and talented teachers. Some respondents pointed to the lack of sufficient funds to offer competitive salaries, and 20 others listed finances and limited resources as challenges.

The survey also revealed that most Islamic school principals are female, with approximately eight out of ten respondents indicating that they are female. To provide greater context for the salary data and to accommodate general cost-of-living differences, the report broke down reporting on salaries by region and gender. The report revealed an apparent gender pay gap, with women receiving less than

men in every region. Importantly, some women reported that they chose lower wages to help their schools financially. The report concluded with implications of the research and spoke directly to this gender pay disparity. Specifically, it highlighted the importance of gender equity and noted that there is no precedence in Islam for paying women less than men for the same services, given comparable education, experience and talent.

The survey also included data on components of our principals’ benefits packages, which most commonly included paid sick days and child tuition discounts, and less so included health insurance, retirement plans or other forms of insurance. The survey sought to understand the job satisfaction of

THE FACT THAT ISLAMIC SCHOOLS ARE LED BY HIGHLY EDUCATED AND EXPERIENCED PRINCIPALS IS SOMETHING TO BE EXTREMELY EXCITED ABOUT. HOWEVER, THE REVEALED CHALLENGES POINT TO THE NEED FOR MORE ROBUST FUNDING STREAMS TO ENABLE OUR SCHOOLS TO PAY COMPETITIVE SALARIES AND THEREBY ATTRACT STRONGER TALENT AND ENABLE THE RETENTION OF PRINCIPALS AND STAFF.

in a timely manner to key constituents. It also facilitates the development of surveys that respond to educators’ current needs, obtain data from a significant pool of participants and then report findings directly to teachers, principals and school board members. This responsive cycle of connection, research and feedback ensures that ISLA’s research reports include not just raw data that is otherwise unavailable, but also important implications for the continuous improvement of Islamic schools.

As ISLA seeks to continue administering pulse surveys on a quarterly basis, more important insights can be gained to help understand how Islamic schools are faring and what kinds of professional development and services can be provided to help them offer a strong value proposition to all of their current and prospective constituents. ISLA hopes that its data and research-informed efforts will enable Islamic schools to increasingly serve as educational institutions of choice for Muslim families nationwide.

Islamic school principals as well. For this, respondents reported on a scale of 1-5, with “5” being highly satisfied. A significant percentage, 29%, reported a “5” and 50% reported a “4.” Less than 4% reported a “2” and none reported a “1.” The most common source of satisfaction indicated by principals was “working with the students” and “helping foster a strong Muslim identity.”

Overall, the data obtained is important for those in the field of Islamic education and more broadly. It seeks to help school boards benchmark a principal's salary within the landscape of Islamic schools and strive for competitive adjustments to improve retention of highly talented professionals. It also tells a story about the maturity of a critical nonprofit institution that caters to Muslim Americans. The fact that Islamic schools are led by highly educated and experienced principals is something to be extremely excited about. Yet there is a need for more robust funding streams to enable Islamic schools to pay competitive salaries and thereby attract stronger talent and enable the retention of principals and staff.

ISLA’s long-standing professional network for Islamic school principals and teachers allows it to successfully capture relevant data and communicate findings COVID-19’S IMPACT ON ENROLLMENT Last November, ISLA released its first Covid19-related pulse research report: https:// theisla.org/covid-19-impact-on-islamicschool-enrollment (see also “The impact of Covid-19 on enrollment in full-time Islamic schools for the 2020-21 academic year,” ISLA Research Report, p. 28, IH Jan./ Feb. 2020). This report revealed that Islamic schools were disproportionately negatively impacted by the pandemic when compared to other religious or non-denominational private schools. Specifically, the CATO Institute reports that approximately half of all pre-K-12th grade private schools experienced enrollment declines, with an average decline of 6 percent (www.cato.org/blog/ survey-roughly-half-private-schools-seedecreased-enrollment).

In contrast, ISLA reported that approximately three-fourths of all Islamic schools experienced enrollment declines, with the majority reporting a 20-30% decline. Based on this data, ISLA targeted its programs and services to Islamic schools for the coming months by offering webinars and courses on hybrid learning design for teachers and leaders, financial sustainability amidst the pandemic and continuous updates on federal sources of additional funding, such as the PPP and CARES Act. ih