NATIONAL PANEL OF NEW PRINCIPALS FEBRUARY 2014 SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS
Rise&Shine Insights from new principals Welcome to the the “Rise & Shine” brief. The National Panel is growing every day. This month’s results reflect responses from new principals in 41 different states! TOPIC OF THE MONTH
spotlight on your teachers!
This month we shined a Here’s what we found out.
You manage a lot of teachers! u The majority of new principals (62%) are leading schools with staffs of 20-40 teachers u 15% of you have more than 50 teachers! You are new – but your staff is not! u The majority of the teachers in your schools have between 6-15 years experience; it is rare to find a school where more than half the staff are in their first five years of teaching. u And 15% of you are the ONLY first year staff member in your school! AVERAGE DAYS OF TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Your teachers tend to possess solid skills. u 40% of you report that at least half your teachers are highly skilled superstars; most of the rest you consider to be “skilled.”
43%
Virtually all your teachers receive professional development during the year. u Most PD is delivered on site at your school by you or your staff u Other popular formats are district level trainings and workshops by outside educational experts. u Nearly 2/3 of your teachers average more than 6 days of PD a year
83%
Your stress level was a bit more than last month
74% high
16%
6%
1% LESS THAN 1 DAY
1-3 DAYS
4-5 DAYS
6-10 DAYS
11-20 DAYS
20+ DAYS
Learning walks in colleagues’ classrooms
Teachers watch a colleague teach a lesson, then debrief together about what they observed both teacher and students saying and doing, providing constructive feedback. Our literacy coaches have also recorded themselves teaching a lesson and then had the teachers watch and discuss the strategies used and instructional decisions made by the coach during the lesson.
20%
medium
2%
15%
12%
Featured idea for teacher PD:
IN FEBRUARY
Job satisfaction was still high, though down slightly from January
24%
6%
Thank you, Janice Croasmun, Principal Rashkis Elementary, Chapel Hill, NC
low
And you worked a whole lot of hours! 88% put in at least 50 hours a week – even more than last month and that includes 9% who put in over 70 hours a week! NEW PRINCIPALS AS INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS
You spend a fair amount of time on instructional leadership-related activities. u 42% report spending between 25-50% of their time on instructional leadership activities. u 27% spend more than half of their time in this area. u That time includes an average of 7 hours a week observing teachers in their classroom. You feel most effective in: u Providing constructive feedback to your teachers u Allocating adequate resources to instruction u Being aware of the latest educational theories, and being able to identify best models and curriculum for your school You feel least effective in: u Setting clear goals for instruction u Understanding and applying principles of student assessment u Ensuring that teachers regularly discuss and reflect on their work u Recognizing and rewarding success
Age of Panel Members: u 12% are over 50 u 84% are in your 30s and 40s; u 4% are 29 or younger!
RESOURCES YOU LIKED THIS MONTH
Books: Formative Assessments by Dylan Williams and Mindset by Carol Dweck Magazine article: “I Start the Year with Nothing” by Nancy Barno Reynolds, Teaching Tolerance Spring 2014 (free subscription at tolerance.org) Blog: Connectedprincipals.com
Twitter is popping up more and more often in your comments as a great platform for receiving resources!
Thanks for your participation on the panel. Watch for the March survey at the end of the month! And remember to invite other new principals you know to join the panel by emailing ahenley@naesp.org.