5 Things State and District Leaders Can Do to Advance Strong and Diverse School Leadership

Recent research has confirmed what students, families, educators, and advocates have always known to be true: School leaders really matter. School leaders play a fundamental role in recruiting and supporting strong educators, driving rigorous instruction, creating school cultures that are inclusive and inviting, and working toward positive academic outcomes. School leaders of color, in particular, provide strong instructional leadership while creating an equity-oriented school environment and attracting and retaining more teachers of color, from which all students benefit-- especially students of color. Importantly, when school leaders of color lead students of color, these positive effects are magnified. District and state leaders can support and create pipelines for current educators to become school leaders. This document provides state and district leaders with an overview of the following five things they should do to foster opportunities to cultivate strong and diverse school leaders of color: (1) Set clear goals to increase school leader diversity and make diversity data more visible to stakeholders; (2) Strengthen existing teacher pipelines that will in turn build principal pipelines; (3) Develop high quality preparation programs for school leaders; (4) Develop high quality professional development opportunities for school leaders; and (5) Invest in principal retention strategies.