Expanding NCREL's Understanding of and Response to Educator Supply and Demand Needs: Regional Administrator Associations Offer Guidance to the Lab

Background

In recent years, NCREL has emerged as a significant contributor to understanding the issues and complexities surrounding our region's teacher work pool. NCREL has invested considerable resources toward the study of teacher supply and demand, compensation, professional development, recruitment, retention, and mobility (go to www.ncrel.org/policy/pubs for a list of NCREL policy publications).

In addition to conducting policy research, NCREL has convened local- and state-level policymakers to hear from them the critical issues related to teacher quality and quantity, gain insight into what kinds of data and research would be most useful in their work, and to disseminate and discuss important findings. This strategy has proved successful. With funding under its new contract, NCREL is poised to provide similar support around regional administrator issues. Ultimately, NCREL aims to be the policymakers' first point of contact for receiving timely, accurate, regional data that (1) responds to the full breadth of educator work force issues (teacher and administrator); (2) reflects educators' career continuum (pre-service to retirement); and (3) supports policymakers in their decisionmaking.

Meeting Purpose

In an effort to strengthen relationships with administrator associations, NCREL convened the directors (or their representatives) of the elementary and secondary administrator associations in our seven-state region on August 29, 2001. The purpose of the meeting was to gauge interest in co-designing a regional agenda for addressing salient administrator supply and demand issues. Response to this invitation was overwhelmingly positive. What follows is an overview of the meeting discussion and suggested next steps.

Administrator Issues in the Midwest

Administrator Association Executives shared the critical issues in their respective states. Common themes were: (1) Redefining the school principalship; (2) Identifying effective recruitment strategies for school principals and administrators; (3) Providing better supply and demand data; (4) Studying states' reciprocity agreements; (5) Addressing incentives (and disincentives) to retirement, including portability of retirement packages; (6) Studying compensation strategies and packages; (7) Responding to certification, licensure, and mobility trends; (8) Responding to media and public perception about the conditions of the principalship; (9) Documenting cultural and gender issues related to the principalship; and (7) Providing support to novice principals and principal candidates.

State-specific highlights include the following:

Minnesota: Through the Gates Grant, Minnesota is bringing 1600 administrators through institutes for leadership and data-driven decisionmaking. A real need was expressed for research-based, accessible professional development. The state anticipates that many administrators and potential administrators will soon be ready to retire.
Indiana: Educator mobility is an issue. Some districts are implementing "home grown" strategies to recruit prospective administrators. This strategy appears to be least used in small, rural districts where administrators receive training and then move to larger districts. The state is experimenting with alternative routes to administrator certification. However, some have expressed concerns about these strategies with respect to applicants' competence and confidence. There is interest in enhancing the concept of reciprocity and other licensure-related issues.
Illinois: As in Indiana, alternative certification programs are being explored. There is concern about the strength of such alternative programs. Retirement incentives are also causing concern. Large numbers of administrators are eligible and taking advantage of retirement options. The issue, then, is how to create retirement disincentives in order to keep highly qualified administrators in the building. Better data is needed to tell the educator shortage story. As it stands, the administrator shortage issue is poorly reflected because many administrators, particularly in small districts, wear more than one hat—both as superintendent and as principal. Certification and re-certification continue to be important issues, as are allocation of resources and time to support good professional development.
Wisconsin: A forthcoming report by the University of Wisconsin-Madison is expected to identify key barriers and issues related to superintendent and principal recruitment. There is strong interest in identifying what other states are doing to respond to administrator supply and demand issues. There is also strong interest in developing a cross-state database to assess the number of licensed administrators versus the number of practicing administrators. As in Illinois, certification is an area of critical focus. In addition, there is discussion about whether a "qualified economic offer" functions as a salary cap and, therefore, contributes to driving qualified prospective administrators out of state.
Michigan: The state is the launch pad for a Standards and Poors database. Subsequent revisions may be helpful to other states considering a similar system. The state has a large pool of superintendent candidates but there is discussion about the quality of the applicant pool. Preparation issues are being considered. Michigan is looking at both traditional and alternative routes to administrator certification.
Iowa: The state reports a steady decline in the number of superintendents and an increase in the number of interim superintendents. There is concern that quality of superintendents may be an issue. However, improved salaries may be attracting more high quality applicants. As in Michigan, there is interest in comparing the number of licensed administrators to number of practicing administrators.

Proposed Research Direction

The Administrator Association Executives unanimously agreed that the most valuable research direction NCREL should pursue is around understanding the role gap between what principals are expected to do and what they are prepared to do on a day-to-day basis. NCREL was urged to focus its immediate attention at the building-level (i.e., What are the conditions of the building-level principalship? How have these conditions changed in recent years? What are the implications for how states and local districts support school principals?) Furthermore, the executives said it would be valuable to learn about strategies and programs across the region that are currently successful at bridging the role gap or may be developed for the future.

Opportunities for Partnership

Executives shared meeting dates for their annual state conventions. They suggested that these meetings provide opportunities for NCREL and state administrator associations to introduce, discuss, and get input on research projects. Specifically, focus groups may be convened at these meetings to help inform any study on the role gap between what principals are expected and prepared to accomplish.

Meeting Outcomes

Outcomes from the meeting will be shared with all participants in a summary document and posted on NCREL's Website. In addition, NCREL committed to drafting a request for proposals (RFP) that speaks to the Executives' support for and interest in studying principal roles and regional support programs.

The Administrator Executives committed to further develop a proposed regional research agenda around administrator issues. They further agreed to spell out how their organizations wish to support the research agenda through convening of focus groups, dissemination of findings, or other specific strategies.