Characteristics of Public, Private, and Bureau of Indian Education Elementary and Secondary School Principals in the United States: Results from the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey. First Look. NCES 2009-323

This report presents selected findings from the school principal data files of the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). SASS is a nationally representative sample survey of public, private, and Bureau of Indian Education-funded (BIE) K-12 schools, principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The public school sample was designed so that national-, regional-, and state-level elementary, secondary, and combined public school estimates can be made. Public schools include both traditional public and public charter schools. The private school sample was designed so that national-, regional-, and affiliation-level estimates can be produced. BIE schools on the 2005-06 Common Core of Data (CCD) were sampled with certainty, and thus national estimates for BIE schools can be produced. The School District data file includes responses from school districts to the School District Questionnaire along with the "district items" taken from the Public School Questionnaire (With District Items) completed by the subset of public schools that were not associated with "traditional" school districts. These schools include state-run schools, traditional public schools in single-school districts, and independent charter schools. Selected findings reported in tabular form include: (1) In 2007-08, there were an estimated 118,610 school principals in the United States; 90,470 were public school principals, 27,960 were private school principals, and 170 were BIE-funded school principals (table 1); (2) Among public school principals, 81 percent were non-Hispanic White, 11 percent were non-Hispanic Black, and 7 percent were Hispanic. Among private school principals, 87 percent were non-Hispanic White, 7 percent were non-Hispanic Black, and 4 percent were Hispanic (table 2); (3) About 50 percent of public school principals and 53 percent of private school principals were female (table 3); (4) Among public schools, more principals held a master's degree (61 pee) as their highest degree than a bachelor's degree or less (1 percent) or an education specialist/professional diploma (29 percent) or a doctorate/first professional degree (8 percent). Among private schools, more principals held a master's degree (50 percent) as their highest degree earned, compared to those with a bachelor's degree or less (33 percent) or an education specialist/professional diploma (10 percent) or a doctorate/first professional degree (7 percent) (table 4); (5) The average annual salary of public school principals was $85,700. Principals in public secondary schools earned more ($90,300) than principals in public elementary schools ($85,200) and in public combined schools ($75,800). Among private school principals, the average annual salary was $57,500. Principals in private secondary schools earned more ($75,100) than principals in private elementary schools ($55,500) and in private combined schools ($55,100) (table 5); (6) On average, public school principals spent 58.4 hours per week on all school-related activities, including 20.8 hours per week interacting with students. Private school principals, on average, spent 53.6 hours per week on all school-related activities, including 19.2 hours per week interacting with students (table 6); (7) Public school principals had, on average, 7.5 years of experience as a principal, of which 4.2 years were spent in their current school. Private school principals had, on average, 10.0 years of experience as a principal, of which 6.8 were spent in their current school (table 7); and (8) About 90 percent of public school principals reported having a major influence on hiring new full-time teachers at their school, while 94 percent of private school principals reported the same (table 8). Four appendices are included: (1) Standard Error Tables; (2) Methodology and Technical Notes; (3) Description of Data Files; and (4) Description of Variables. (Contains 22 tables and 12 footnotes.)