Elevating Support for New Assistant Principals

FOCUS: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Our 2,100-​student district in eastern Massachusetts has struggled of late with recruiting and retaining excellent leaders.

A 2021 Wallace Foundation report, titled “The Role of Assistant Principals: Evidence and Insights for Advancing School Leadership,” highlighted the need to elevate the position of assistant principals by providing opportunities to improve their effectiveness and assume deeper leadership roles. Increasingly, we have tried to identify, support and grow individuals in their first formal leadership positions within schools, including assistant principals.