April 29, 2003

A report submitted to the New York State Education Department. The views expressed in the report do not necessarily reflect those of the New York State Education Department. We thank Istvan Vanyolos and Peter Hopke for able research assistance.

School districts across the country are struggling with recruiting a new generation of school leaders as the baby-boom generation of leaders retires. The dramatic increase in vacancies for school leaders has caused many observers to conclude that there is an administrator shortage.

We surveyed all individuals, 50 years old or younger, employed in New York State public schools who are certified to be school leaders but are not currently serving as a principal or superintendent. Based on the responses of over 2800 individuals certified to be leaders we examined a number of questions regarding their interest and ability to take on leadership positions.

• Why did they complete the requirements for administrative certification and then not enter the profession?
• Did they ever seek an administrative post and, if so, what were their experiences in the job search process?
• What are their current career aspirations?
• Are any still interested in pursuing a school leadership position?
• Do they still feel prepared to assume an administrative position?
• Under what conditions might they consider moving into an administrative position?

There is remarkably little research on the pool of potential administrators and how to recruit well-qualified individuals to leadership positions. The findings from our analysis often support commonly held beliefs about this group but, at times, our results do not support these beliefs. These findings are summarized below.

School districts across the country are struggling with recruiting a new generation of school leaders as the baby-boom generation of leaders retires. The dramatic increase in vacancies for school leaders has caused many observers to conclude that there is an administrator shortage. However, there is little evidence that a true shortage exists as there are large numbers of individuals credentialed to be school leaders who are not currently serving in those positions. What remains unclear is whether these individuals are interested in serving as school leaders and whether they are qualified to do so. This report examines this issue based on a survey of all individuals, 50 years old or younger, currently employed in New York State public schools who are certified to be school leaders but are not currently serving as a principal or superintendent.

Based on the responses of over 2800 individuals certified to be leaders we examined a number of questions regarding their interest and ability to take on leadership positions.

• Why did they complete the requirements for administrative certification and then not enter the profession?
• Did they ever seek an administrative post and, if so, what were their experiences in the job search process?
• What are their current career aspirations?
• Are any still interested in pursuing a school leadership position?
• Do they still feel prepared to assume an administrative position?
• Under what conditions might they consider moving into an administrative position?

Their responses to these and related questions form the basis of this report.

The survey instrument (see Appendix A) was designed to explore the interest, experience, and preparation of teachers and administrators other than principals or superintendents in pursuing administrative positions. Practicing school administrators, representatives of the state’s professional administrator organizations, and senior staff from the NYS Education Department provided feedback on a draft survey and the subsequent draft was field tested and revised. The target audience for the survey was all individuals holding the New York State provisional or permanent certification to be a school administrator, who were 50 years old or younger but who were not currently serving as a principal or superintendent at the time of the survey. 7809 individuals were so identified based on analysis of the New York State Education Certification File and the Personnel Master File. These individuals were mailed a survey in November 2002. A reminder postcard was sent one week after the initial mailing. 3301 individuals responded to the survey, with 2898 useable observations, which represents 39 percent of those targeted by the survey. It should be noted that 345 individuals returned the survey but indicated on it that they were currently serving as a principal. Thus the results include those serving in traditional "pipeline" positions (e.g., assistant principals, department chairs) but exclude those already in the principalship or central office positions.

Descriptive statistics were generated for each of the questions. Questions were analyzed for all respondents and then disaggregated by gender, position (those not in an administrative position at the time of the survey and those in non-administrative positions), age and length of time since achieving administrative certification. Non-administrative positions are defined as teacher, school counselor, school social worker or school psychologist. Administrative positions are defined as chair or academic head, dean, assistant principal or house principal or special education administrator/CSE chairperson. Information on gender and age were obtained from the Personnel Master File; time since administrative certification was obtained from the Certification file. Individuals who have already secured some type of administrative position are qualitatively different from teachers or other school staff, e.g., school psychologists. Those in administrative positions have demonstrated an interest that exceeds obtaining administrative certification and in some sense are further down the pipeline. For this reason, we separated the responses of administrators and non-administrators. All differences described in this report are statistically significant at the .10 level or better.

In most observable respects, respondents have similar characteristics as non-respondents (see Appendix B). Table B-1 shows response categories by gender and age; table B-2 examines survey response by age, years since administrative certification and urbanicity. Response rates are very similar for gender and years since administrative certification. Older individuals were more likely to respond to the survey while individuals working in urban areas were less likely to do so. Even so, response rates in urban areas exceeded 30 percent. Based on similar response rates for these characteristics, we believe the survey respondents are generally representative of the target population, although it is possible that differential responses with respect to other attributes may alter this conclusion.

Taken as a group, the survey questions provide insight to how educational policymakers can increase interest in school leadership positions. We have grouped the responses to examine facets of the leadership issue: motivation for securing administrative certification, experience in searching for leadership positions, initial and subsequent preparation for school leadership, and future school leadership plans. Below we summarize and discuss those results that strike us as most interesting. We focus primarily on the results for individuals whose current position is teacher or other non-administrative school staff but when the findings for those serving in administrative positions offer interesting contrast or insights those results are included. Tables summarizing the full set of responses are included in Appendix C.

Motivation for securing administrative certification. The motivation for securing administrative certification has long been unclear. Administrative certification is required to fill many leadership positions within schools and districts. However, it has been suggested that provisionally certified teachers interested in permanent teacher certification opt for a master’s degree in administration because that route is perceived as easier than other routes or that they were pursuing something different with little interest in actually pursuing an administrative career. Moreover, motivation is important in understanding the true nature of the potential pool from which administrators could be drawn. How many of those with administrative certification are willing to serve?

Non-administrators who received administrative certification do so primarily to serve as administrators, and not primarily as a by-product of permanent teaching certification or because they were encouraged by others. As shown in Figure 1, about 80 percent of respondents cited their interest in serving as an administrator as the primary reason they acquired administrative certification. Salary, often thought to be an important issue, was mentioned by 6 percent of respondents as the primary reason. However, nearly 70 percent of non-administrators indicate that salary considerations either influenced or greatly influenced their decision (see Figure 2). Younger people (under 36) were somewhat more likely than older respondents (more than 45) to indicate salary was an issue. Whereas women were slightly less likely to indicate that salary influenced their decision to pursue administrative certification. The findings related to salary reinforce the current belief that the inadequate salary differential between teachers and administrators is contributing to the reduced applicant pools for school leadership positions. The results also show that more than 60 percent of the respondents were influenced by the encouragement of an administrator. These data support the emerging practice of "tapping" highly qualified individuals from within the system.

In contradiction to a commonly held belief, less than 2 percent of the non-administrators pursued administrative certification primarily to obtain permanent teacher certification. In fact, fewer than 20 percent said that this influenced their decision to any extent. In general, there were few differences in motivation when the data were disaggregated by gender, age or years since attaining administrative certification.

Experience searching for a school leadership position. The survey explores three aspects of the administrative job search process: a) experience with applying for administrative positions, b) persistence with job search, and c) outcomes of these searches. In general, we were surprised to find that 68 percent of the non-administrators had applied for an administrative position. Men were more likely than women to have applied for an administrative position (Figure 3). Younger (under 35) respondents were less likely than older (over 45) individuals to have applied. It should also be noted that application rates remain high regardless of how long it has been since the individual received administrative certification.

Of those who had not applied for an administrative position, most (40 percent) felt that the rewards were insufficient and that they like their current position (30 percent) (Figure 4). Predictably the younger (less than 35) respondents were more likely to have cited enjoying their current position than those over 45 and less likely to indicate that the rewards are insufficient. Surprisingly, only about 20 percent indicated that they had not applied for an administrative position because the demands of the job were too great.

Of those who have applied for administrative positions, a quarter of non-administrators and a third of administers have applied to be principals, while 47 percent of non-administrators (Figure 5a) and 67 percent of administrators (Figure 5b) have applied to be assistant principals. In both cases, men are more likely to have applied than women. For non-administrators, 29% of men have applied to be principals while 23% of women have applied. The comparable figures for assistant principals are 51% and 45%. For administrators, 38% of men and 31% of women applied to be principals and 71% of men applied to be assistant principals while 65% of women did so. This may these differences may be attributable to there being fewer assistant principal positions at the elementary level where we find higher percentages of female principals.

Job search appears to be most intense soon after receiving administrative certification. Over 60 percent searched for position for two years or less, although these results need to be interpreted carefully as some respondents received their certification just a few years ago (Figure 6a). For those with at least six years since certification, job search fell off somewhat as time since certification increased, although a relatively high proportion of respondents were still applying six years following certification. Those currently serving in administrative positions were much more likely to search for positions immediately following certification (Figure 6b). About 55 percent of administrators applied for administrative positions less than year following certification, about 30 percent of non-administrators did so.

Among non-administrators who had applied for administrative positions, about half had applied for between two and five positions, twenty-five percent applied for just one administrative position, and more than ten percent had applied for eleven or more administrative positions (Figure 7). Surprisingly, women and men exhibited similar patterns of persistence when applying for administrative positions. Similarly, there are few differences in application patterns across age or time since administrative certification.

Most applicants met with some success in the application process as 90 percent of applicants received at least one interview (Figure 8). Women were nearly twice as likely to never have received an interview than men (13 percent v. 7 percent. Among those granted interviews, there are few differences in the number of interviews granted. Few differences in the number of interviews exist across age or time since administrative certification. Thus of all non-administrators two thirds applied for and were granted interviews (75 percent applied and 90 percent of these were granted interviews).

Approximately one-third of the non-administrators who had applied said that they had been offered but turned down an administrative position (Figure 9a). Forty percent of administrators who applied have turned down an administrative position (Figure 9b). Among both administrators and non-administrators, more men had turned down these jobs than women. Predictably, fewer younger teachers (under 36) had declined a position than their older colleagues (over 46). The primary reason cited by men for declining a position was salary followed by personal reasons. Women cited personal reasons most frequently and then salary. Older respondents (over 45) were more likely to have turned down an administrative position because the salary was insufficient (Figures 10 to 12). Unexpectedly, giving up tenure and the need to relocate were cited less frequently than expected by both men and women. However, contrary to popular belief, men were much more likely to cite concerns about relocation than women.

Initial and subsequent preparation for school leadership. The environment for school leadership has changed dramatically over the last five years. School leaders are now expected to manage both the internal administrative and curricular affairs of the school but also represent the school to the community on issues of school performance and accountability. Some observers are concerned that these increased tasks compound an already demanding job, leading some candidates to conclude that they may not be well prepared. The survey explored this issue with regard to initial preparation, on-the-job experience, and the self-assessment of current preparedness.

Ninety-three percent of non-administrators believed that they were adequately prepared at some point in their careers for an administrative position (Figure 13). Many non-administrators felt adequately prepared immediately after completing the requirements for administrative certification or after gaining some quasi-administrative experience through curriculum or shared decision-making committees (Figure 14a). For some of these individuals work with an administrator is an important experience in preparing them for a leadership position. There is remarkable similarity across gender, age and time since administrative certification. In contrast, current administrators are less likely to indicate they were adequately prepared immediately after certification (28% v. 32%) and more likely to indicate that work with a current administrator is important (30% v. 22%) (Figure 14b). As Yogi Berra might have said you don’t know what you don’t know.

Most non-administrators (70 to 90 percent) indicated that they had previous leadership experience with student management, staff supervision, program evaluation, shared decision-making and curriculum development (Figures 15 and 16). About 60 percent of respondents indicated that they had previous leadership experience with budgeting issues. The areas of least reported experience were formal staff evaluation and collective bargaining, where half or fewer of the respondents indicated prior leadership experience.

Surprisingly, most non-administrators (90 percent) feel adequately prepared to assume leadership positions (see Figure 17). However, about 60 percent responded that they feel that they need additional training in finances and facilities management to be prepared for their first or next administrative position (Figures 18 and 19). Between 20 and 40 percent believe they need additional training in staff supervision and project evaluation. Across all categories, women were more likely to indicate that they need additional training than were men.

Future school leadership plans. To address the current difficulties many districts are having recruiting qualified school leaders, we are interested in the future plans of the group of individuals who are certified for administrative positions but currently not serving this capacity. Nearly two-thirds of the non-administrators reported that their desire to pursue an administrative position has diminished over the course of their careers (Figure 20) and approximately 60 percent of those who had applied for administrative positions have stopped (Figure 21a). Thus 73 percent of non-administrators have either never applied for position or have stopped applying for positions. Not surprisingly, there is much more interest in continuing to apply for administrative positions among current administrators, where only 32 percent have stopped applying for positions (Figure 21b). Taken together half of all individuals with administrative certification are not actively looking for administrative positions. This is likely the source of the anecdotal evidence that there is a shortage of school leaders.

Among both administrators and non-administrators, younger respondents (under 36) are more likely to still be applying for administrative positions than their older colleagues (over 45). There is an even stronger pattern based on the number of years since attaining administrative certification. Nearly 80 percent of non-administrators have stopped applying after holding an administrative certification for 6 years. Among administrators and non-administrators, undesirable working conditions, stress, inadequate compensation and loss of tenure were the reasons most frequently cited for abandoning the search for an administrative position (Figures 22 and 23). We are particularly interested in the behavior of non-administrators who stopped applying within two years of receiving their administrative certification. Is their lack of persistence a result of specific experiences? This group cites reasons to discontinuing their administrative job search activities that are very similar to the larger group of all non-administrators who stopped—undesirable working conditions, stress, inadequate compensation and loss of tenure. In particular, they cite being unsuccessful less frequently than individuals who persisted in job search longer.

Despite the fact that half of current administrators and non-administrators are not actively looking for positions, 85 percent would be willing to pursue a first or next administrative position under the right set of conditions (Figure 24a and Figure 24b). This is true regardless of age or years since attaining administrative certification. The most important factors for both groups are adequate compensation and being recruited for a position (Figure 25a and Figure 25b). Mentioned less frequently but still important are mentoring and additional training. Women reported that they wanted additional preparation and mentoring more frequently than men. When asked how much additional compensation would be required to induce them to take their first or next administrative position, about sixty percent of administrators and non-administrators indicated it would take more than $10,000 (Figure 26a and Figure 26b).

When asked specifically about becoming a principal, 45 percent of non-administrators and 52 percent of administrators indicated an interest (Figure 27a and Figure 27b). Younger respondents are much more likely to be interested than older respondents. Differences between men and women are relatively small. Reasons cited most frequently among those who are not interested in becoming principals include personal reasons, salary and reluctance to give up tenure (Figure 28 and Figure 29). Surprisingly, poor working conditions were cited least frequently. Salary and working conditions are more important to men than women. Few differences exist with respect to age or years since certification. Our sample included 109 non-administrators and 129 administrators who had previously been principals but who left that position. Overwhelmingly, the non-administrators cited stress and not liking the work as reasons for leaving the principalship (Figures 30 and 31) while 80 percent of administrators left for another administrative position.

Even though they are not currently serving in school leadership posts, a large number of administratively certified educators report that they are still interested in pursuing this career path. In fact, most became administratively certified in order to further this end. However, only about half are still actively engaged in a search for an administrative position.

At some point, usually early, in their professional careers most of these individuals have applied for and, in most cases, been interviewed for at least one school leadership position. Some have been very persistent even in the face of repeated rejections. A smaller number have been offered school leadership posts only to turn them down for salary or personal reasons.

Surprisingly, most would still pursue an administrative position under the right set of conditions. Very high percentages still feel adequately prepared for an administrative post and most have gained additional quasi-administrative experience throughout their careers. The degree to which these educators will become an important factor in the future of the state’s leadership corps will depend both upon key extrinsic factors (e.g., salary and tenure status) as well as important intrinsic factors (e.g., current levels of job satisfaction and the encouragement of current administrators).

In our analysis fewer gender differences were noted than we would have expected. We also noted far fewer differences related to the person’s age or length of time since administrative certification than anticipated. This suggests that the strategies for cultivating this group as potential administrative candidates are more similar for men and women, young and old, than dissimilar.

Finally, we should note that although many administratively certified individuals would be interested in pursuing positions under the right circumstances, we know little about their qualifications or ability to serve at the next level.