Education leaders are turning over at a faster pace than before. The superintendent turnover rate increased three percentage points between the 2019-20 and 2022-23 school years, from 14.2 to 17.1 percent.
The effect ripples down, as more principals move into the superintendent鈥檚 chair, and more teachers with fewer years of experience land on the path to principalship.
The principal pipeline is greener now. That means states have to think about leadership development as a continuum: Superintendents, principals, and teachers can鈥檛 afford to stop learning on the job.
But what does that look like in practice? The Show-Me State thinks it鈥檚 landed on the right recipe. In 2016, it launched the Missouri Leadership Development System (MLDS), which combines two years of mentorship, hands-on teaching modules, and regular check-ins over the course of a principal鈥檚 career鈥攅levating leadership support from the typically haphazard ongoing training principals receive to a cohesive model.
鈥淧rincipals can鈥檛 make things better for teachers if they aren鈥檛 taking care of themselves,鈥� said Paul Katnik, one of the founding members of MLDS, and the assistant commissioner of educator quality at the Missouri education department. 鈥淧rincipal well-being is a focus area for us.鈥�
Missouri鈥檚 program is paying dividends
MLDS replaced a previous yearlong leadership development program. While it had great reviews, principals wanted support beyond that one year, to continue their growth as leaders. MLDS鈥檚 creators were conscious that any new program had to be much longer, and support principals at every stage in their journey.
The older program wasn鈥檛 reaching out to as many principals as the state would鈥檝e liked.
鈥淲hen we added up the numbers, we realized there were 3,500 principals and assistant principals in the state. Working with a couple hundred each year barely scratched the surface. We weren鈥檛 seeing any educational needles, like principal retention, move in the state,鈥� said Katnik.
Launched with a couple hundred school leaders in 2014, MLDS now serves over 1,600 school leaders鈥攂oth principals and assistant principals鈥攆rom 400 districts, or about half of Missouri鈥檚 school leaders.
Of these leaders, 98 percent have remained in their positions, compared to the 78 percent of Missouri principals who aren鈥檛 a part of MLDS, according to an independent evaluation conducted in 2023.
The evaluation also found that 95 percent of the participating principals believed the program helped them see the connection between their own leadership and student learning.
鈥淭his is what you want to see happen,鈥� Katnik said. 鈥淭he supportive network that principals get makes them stick. The better news is that the overall retention rates in the state have edged up.鈥�
Higher retention translates into more consistency for students, Katnik added. 鈥淎ll the research says that is what we should aim for.鈥�
MLDS takes principals through four key stages of development, from aspiring principals still training for the top job to leaders who are fully in control of the cultural and instructional needs of their school. The support that MLDS provides isn鈥檛 time-bound either鈥攖he principal cohorts formed eight years ago are still meeting and supporting each other.
鈥淚n the last four years, the principal鈥檚 job has become very isolating and difficult. It鈥檚 important that principals know they have colleagues and specialists to support them. Principals must be the lead learner in their schools if they want to set an example for their teachers and students,鈥� Katnik said.
Katnik and his team now want to expand MLDS鈥� leadership development program to the state鈥檚 superintendents. As principals move up the leadership chain, they鈥檒l want MLDS-style support in their new roles. This will, however, inject more complexity into a sprawling statewide operation that spans nine regional hubs and over 500 mentors.
The MLDS structure is distributed but coherent
Katnik is part of a two-member team at the state level, which pushes out the training content to the nine regional hubs and organizes the in-person and networking components, though each hub can tweak its program to suit local needs.
Each hub also selects former principals and superintendents to serve as mentors and specialists. In addition to providing mentors, the regional hubs bring their principal groups together every two months for in-person training.
MLDS鈥� facilitators are specially trained on adult learning techniques, said Katnik. They focus on steps principals can apply immediately in their jobs.
That鈥檚 why a big part of the training is experiential.
鈥淲e do culture walks in schools with our cohort of principals. New principals walk around a school together and reflect on what鈥檚 working and what isn鈥檛. It also helps them learn more about the culture they鈥檙e building in their own schools,鈥� said Vince Powell, a regional MLDS specialist based at the Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Each level of training also carries custom lessons for principals at different stages of development. In the earlier stages, for instance, there is a deeper emphasis on 鈥渃ritical firsts鈥�: the first PTA, the first faculty meeting, or the first time a new principal meets students.
Powell said leaders are also encouraged to network with each other so they feel less lonely about the challenges they鈥檙e all addressing. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all constantly training each other,鈥� said Powell.
The institutional network that props up MLDS
From its inception, MLDS鈥� creators took a systematic approach to building it.
The first objective was to garner support and insight from superintendents鈥� associations, teacher associations, school boards and principal associations, and the 23 higher education institutions in Missouri that offer principal-prep programs. In all, this helped create a common language so that new principals graduating from their prep schools into the mentoring program have continuity in their training.
The state also embedded the program in state policies around certification, performance assessment, and micro-credentialing鈥攂asically bite-size competencies principals must master鈥攆or school leaders, said Katnik, which makes it harder to dismantle.
鈥淧olicy helps communicate to principals that this is how we do leadership development in the state. It also ensures that the structure is going to outlast any of us,鈥� said Katnik.
Leadership development programs are often the first cuts districts make when their budgets are strained. MLDS is funded mainly by federal funds and fees. To the largest extent possible, Katnik said, districts aren鈥檛 charged for program costs.
In 2022, the Missouri Education department was awarded to boost training for principals to meet goals around accelerated learning, staffing classrooms and social-emotional learning.
MLDS also uses 3 percent of the state鈥檚 share of federal Title II funding for teachers and principal development.
鈥淲e asked superintendents if we could use this money, as it would lessen the pool of their money. Not one said no. That鈥檚 why we also do evaluations every year so that they can see their money is being put to good use,鈥� Katnik said.
Eventually, the state would like to include all of its principals. In some districts, up to 80 percent of principals are already participating, and other states, including Alabama, are looking to adapt it.
Winning support at home, though, is still the first goal. Katnik鈥檚 pitch to principals who haven鈥檛 signed up yet is simple.
鈥淚 would ask them to look at our evaluations on whether the program is relevant, if it helps to be a better leader, if it helps them improve teacher practice, whether it helps achieve better student outcomes,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his could be happening in your school, too, if you join us.鈥�
