At each level in the educational ecosystem, school leaders play a vital role in ensuring equity for students. That’s why the Wallace Foundation believes that empowering equity-focused principals is essential — so they have the tools to empower students.
At the AASA National Conference on Education on Thursday, attendees were treated to an insightful Thought Leader session featuring superintendents and leaders from four of the eight districts selected for the Wallace Foundation’s Equity-Centered Pipeline Initiative. The five-year initiative is designed to explore and implement strategies for advancing leadership that focuses on justice and equality for students. During the panel, school leaders shared their recent challenges and successes in helping principals succeed.
Thursday’s panel, titled “Building Support Systems for Equity-Centered Leaders,” was guided by the foundation’s vice president of education leadership, Rotunda Floyd-Cooper. She launched the discussion by reiterating the importance of strong leadership in schools.
“It's clear that we're at a crucial juncture in public education,” she said. “The demand for highly effective teachers and school leaders has never been more pressing.”
Angelica Romero, an assistant superintendent in the San Antonio Independent School District, acknowledged that in recent years, her district realized it lacked a bench of leaders to rise to the critical role of principal. That’s why they decided to take action by participating in the Pipeline Initiative.
Data from The Wallace Foundation reveals that schools that participate in pipeline programs significantly outperform their counterparts. The foundation defines the term “principal pipeline” as a range of talent management practices, which includes setting clear standards for principals, providing on-the-job support and implementing selective hiring practices.
According to a study by the RAND Corporation titled “Principal Pipelines: A Feasible, Affordable and Effective Way for Districts to Improve Schools,” pipeline district schools with newly placed principals displayed notably improved student outcomes after three years. The difference amounted to nearly 3 percentile points in math and more than 6 percentile points in reading.
These metrics are important to school leaders like Romero, whose school district is 90 percent Hispanic, around 5 percent Black and 3 percent white. She says that when her district realized that Black students were underperforming in math, they created a strategic plan. It involved engaging with the community and personally communicating with each individual teacher to understand their specific needs.
Romero also stressed the importance of thinking beyond the roles of superintendents and principals while defining the word “leader.”
“Everybody in our district is a leader, regardless of where you sit, from student to assistant principal to central office to bus driver to police officer,” she said.
The panelists explained that providing clear communication guidelines, comprehensive pre-service training and guidance to principals had helped them work towards their equity goals. Ultimately, the speakers emphasized that “centering equity” means centering kids.
(Emily Topping, a freelance journalist in New Orleans, is a reporter with AASA’s Conference Daily Online.)
