Dive Brief:
- School principals oversee a wide range of educational and administrative tasks, and operations managers installed in schools and districts can help alleviate overworked principals and put their focus back on classrooms and student learning outcomes, according to NPR.
- Schools in the District of Columbia Public School system initiated a pilot program in 2014, hiring managers of operations and logistics for several schools, and the program has now spread to 70 schools — though it has yet to take off nationally and is mostly found in urban settings.
- Though representatives for DCPS say it is too early to know for sure how the added assistance is helping with student outcomes, the hope is that it raises achievement and also saves money for the district, with DCPS planning to add more managers to schools in the coming years.
Dive Insight:
The dire teacher shortage in districts throughout the country is worrisome to many and oft-mentioned, but schools and districts can also face shortages on the administrative and operational end, from school nurses to bus drivers. The onus on principals can also show the pervasive effect the teacher shortage can have outside of the classroom. Though administrative tasks are not necessarily the purview of teachers, more staff members in any capacity would likely lead to more supplementary assistance for the principal on any number of tasks.
The DC program is exciting, but there is yet to be a plan to expand it to scale nationwide. In the meantime, principals can look to depending on teacher leaders, who can assist with administrative responsibilities only to the degree that it will not take them out of the classroom. Doing so would lessen the burden on the principal, and this form of shared responsibility could instill a feeling of "group ownership" in the school. Finally, bringing teacher leaders into the administrative process could offer principals a way to groom future school leaders in-house. A recent review of challenges for college presidents suggested that current college presidents select several exemplary candidates from within the campus staff and introduce them to a leadership development track. Such an approach could also be utilized in K-12 schools.