Building Early Education Leaders: Conclusion and Takeaways

Principals who understand how young children learn best can take meaningful steps to support appropriate instruction in their schools and strengthen alignment in pre-K and the early grades. The growing number of states and districts choosing to focus on developing principals as early education leaders is a promising trend.

Ongoing, job-embedded professional learning can be expensive, but starting children off on the right foot with access to high-quality early learning can mean fewer costly interventions down the road. School leaders who understand how young children learn can more effectively empower their best teachers and also support their teachers who are still learning about early education. States and districts can be pulled in many directions when it comes to allocating their limited resources. In the National P–3 Center’s Peer-to-Peer Conversation last summer, operators of professional learning programs for leaders raised time and funding constraints as primary challenges to this work. Funding for the three programs we visited came from various sources, including federal grant dollars, state budgets, a local sales tax, and private foundations.

There is not necessarily one right way to equip principals with the knowledge and skills they need to better meet the needs of young learners. While the design of each of the programs we visited was unique, the National Association of Elementary School Principals’ core competencies guided all of them. Each program displayed aspects of high-quality professional learning, and there were components of each one that stood out:

• In San Antonio we were impressed with the New Teacher Center’s one-on-one in-school coaching and how valuable it was for principals to see the content they were learning in the seminars applied in their own schools.
• In Fergus Falls we saw value in the state’s ability to extend the reach of the work beyond principals to include other early childhood community and district leaders.
• In Montgomery, it was remarkable that after just one year many principals were able to point to tangible reforms they had made in their schools as a result of what they learned in the leadership academy.

Determining how to evaluate program impact or success is another challenge for states and districts. The three programs we visited had participants fill out surveys on their experiences throughout the year, but self-reported opinion data has limitations. The ultimate goal of these efforts are to improve instruction and child outcomes, but it is difficult to measure the impact of principal professional development on these indicators.

Each of the examples we highlighted is structured and delivered differently. While there is no one right model, it’s important that program designers consider the potential trade-offs when making decisions about the depth of content to include, format of sessions, required and recommended participants, and other components. This is something we’ll examine more deeply in a brief we’re partnering with Kristie Kauerz, director of the National P-3 Center, to release later this summer. In the brief we will discuss takeaways from last year’s Peer-to-Peer Conversation with 11 programs.

New America will also be examining another way for ensuring principals are equipped to lead classrooms where young children learn: preparation and licensure. Illinois is the only state to date that has reformed its principal licensure laws to ensure that pre-K is incorporated throughout coursework and field placements. Check back in the fall for more on Illinois’ approach to ensuring that all principals enter their roles with an understanding of what early learning should look like.

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