A new survey released on May 3 by the RAND Corporation, a non-partisan, nonprofit global policy think tank and research institute, reveals some of the most prominent challenges principals faced in terms of teacher staffing during the 2021-22 school year. The research was conducted in March and April of 2022, just after the height of the pandemic when more than half of K12 public school principals reported having insufficient teaching staff, the report notes.

During the 2021-22 school year, most schools faced open teaching positions. However, according to the survey, substitute teachers were by far the hardest position to fill, “despite district-level efforts to attract substitute teachers by increasing pay and benefits,” the survey reads. Almost 90% of principals cited difficulty hiring subs compared to 77% who had trouble hiring certified teachers.

Regardless, principals still reported significant concerns surrounding their inability to hire teachers. While the contributing factors are widespread, administrators point to three dominant stressors:

1. Not enough applicants: 71% of principals said this was their number one concern citing it as a “major barrier.”
2. Inadequate compensation: 42% of principals said this was a “major barrier,” specifically in areas regarding salaries, pensions and benefits.
3. Candidates aren’t qualified: More than one-fourth of principals cited this as a “major barrier.”

Administrators also shared what they look for specifically when hiring new teachers. Above all, most principals prioritized how well a candidate’s mindset fit with the vision and culture of their schools. Additionally, elementary principals value teacher experience whereas high school principals prioritized credentials.

“Our findings confirm that, in the spring of the 2021-2022 school year, most principals struggled to keep classrooms consistently covered with teachers and many found that hiring had become more challenging since the previous year,” the report reads. “Overall, despite aggressive efforts by districts to increase teacher hiring, we found that many principals expressed growing concerns about the hiring climate for educators—an issue that could be exacerbated as federal relief funds expire.”

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Recommendations

As staffing shortages persist in 2023, administrators should evaluate the situation specific to their institution and incorporate solutions that would offer the greatest benefit to their teachers and students. The authors of this report offer four recommendations to consider to address ongoing teacher vacancies:

• Policymakers, educators and media personnel should tread lightly when discussing staffing shortages, “because the situation is not monolithic,” the report reads. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, and vacancies aren’t universal as they vary by geography and school characteristics.
• Districts should evaluate how substitute teachers are allocated across schools and look into efforts to attract and retain them. Substitute teachers “are not a postscript in current discussions of teacher shortages.”
• Prioritize increasing opportunities to hire teachers of color. This includes increasing pay, providing loan forgiveness, making organizational changes in hiring practices and preservice/in-service training for principals.
• States should revisit teacher qualification requirements. Many states are loosening requirements for new teachers, yet principals cite unqualified teachers as one of their top three barriers to hiring.

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Rather, leaders are focusing on issues such as mental health and staff shortages that stand in the way of student achievement.

“As a result of having few resources and the lowest-paid professional staff in the county, our students have not performed to their academic potential and some even suffer from self-esteem issues,” says Stephen Rodriguez, superintendent of the Pottstown School District in Pennsylvania.

Leaders are also priming their teams to tackle issues from inadequate funding to technology. Here’s a rundown of the top seven education challenges:

Beating the biggest education challenges

1. Supporting mental health and student safety

A concerning number of students experimenting with recreational drugs and others bringing weapons to schools are two signs of how the national youth mental health crisis is playing out in the Ankeny Community School District north of Des Monies, Iowa, Superintendent Erick Pruitt says.

In response, Pruitt and his team are working to ensure students are involved in the arts, athletics or other extracurricular activities. The district is trying to educate parents about the mental health resources available at school and in the community. He is also looking at how to better utilize data around students who need more support.

“We also want to ensure parents are aware of how to keep kids safe at home and at school,” Pruitt continues. “We see what’s happening around us, and we want to make sure our facilities and classrooms are safe, and that our staff have the resources they need to react when issues arise. “

Bridgeton Public Schools in New Jersey now screens every student multiple times a year to track their social-emotional health as proficient, an emerging concern or at risk, Superintendent Keith Miles says. Teachers in Bridgeton have infused SEL lessons across all grades in health, physical education and social studies.

“While we provide all students SEL lessons across all grades, we have additional school counselors, SEL specialists, crisis counselors and clinical practitioners on hand to follow up with at-risk students with more frequent individual and group therapy sessions,” says Miles, who has reached a deal to become superintendent of School District of Lancaster in Pennsylvania this summer.

2. Tackling teacher shortages

The shortage of classroom teachers and aspiring leaders is like nothing that Principal Melissa Shindel has ever seen. “We had never started school year without a full staff,” says Shindel, principal of Glenwood Middle School in Maryland’s Howard County Public School System. “This is the second year in a row that’s happened. We’ll be in a real crisis if we can’t figure out how to better grows kids in college and attract them to this field.”

A colleague of Shindel described the situation as “emotional whiplash.” The same teachers who were hailed as heroes during remote learning in the darkest days of the pandemic are now being villainized over curriculum and other issues.

In Pottstown, Rodriguez says the “competition is fierce.” His district fills positions but often loses teachers to more affluent districts. His district has been forced to increase class sizes and “put other teachers on permanent overload schedules.”

“We have had multiple positions open throughout the entire school year, and some buildings have not been fully staffed,” Rodriguez says. “Our teachers who show up every day for students end up getting almost no break because they are covering classrooms that have no teachers.”

Bridgeton Public Schools has experienced unprecedented shortages in math, science, special education and bilingual instruction, Miles says. Teachers and support staff have had to fill vacancies while the district has contracted with a company that provides virtual teachers who can supplement the instruction provided by substitutes. “We have targeted students in courses with substitute teachers with one-to-one in-person and virtual tutors,” Miles says.

3. Sustaining success

The Pottstown School District has been a “highly underfunded entity for several decades,” Rodriguez says. As the community’s tax base has slipped, the district has struggled to pay competitive salaries to teachers, particularly in special education.

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The district’s No. 1 education challenge? Support in achieving financial security for the future. “Our biggest concern is in sustaining the excellent growth we started this year,” Rodriguez explains. “With more resources, we have been able to make a real difference for students and the community. Parents and other communities have noticed, but being able to continue on this path will require appropriate and fair funding, which is still a question mark for future years.”

Among the biggest education challenges for a high-performing like Ankeny is driving student achievement higher, says Pruitt. Some 85% of the district’s students are proficient in English and about 70% have hit the mark in math. “We’re asking what is our compelling ‘why’ around how we push for continuous improvement,” Pruitt says. “What’s our message moving forward in a district that does so well in serving kids from multiple backgrounds?”

4. COVID relief crunch

Sustaining success will be further complicated by the looming ESSER deadline that will put pressure on district leaders to make shrewd spending decisions, says Carl Dolente, superintendent of the Cumberland Regional School District in New Jersey.

“Many of the programs, positions, and technology will be hanging in the balance,” Dolente points out. “Trying to find ways to sustain these important and much-needed improvements we were able to make over the past three years will take a great deal of creative budgeting and resourcefulness.”

5. Holding assessments accountable

Superintendent Dana Bedden of the Centennial School District near Philadelphia urged Congress to change the current punitive nature of standardized testing and state accountability systems during a recent 100 Superintendent March to Congress (where he was accompanied by District Administration). “Let’s make the system about spotlighting opportunities rather than a hammer for punishment,” Bedden said.

Today’s school accountability systems are used “as a hammer against districts,” added Karla Loría, superintendent of the Adams 14 School District near Denver, during U.S. Capitol visit. she noted that most assessments do not account for the experiences of the whole student, such as race, background, poverty levels, disability and mobility, English-language learning and trauma.

Loría pointed out that every school and district monitored under Colorado’s accountability system is rural, poor or has high populations of English learners. She added that her district is trying to “change the narrative” by testing multilingual learners in their native languages and in English. And these students are showing growth. “Our system fails to serve the whole child,” Loría said.

6. Updating aging buildings

Outdated facilities have a direct impact on the quality of the education schools districts can provide, particularly when it comes to preparing students for their futures in higher education and the workforce, says Miles at Bridgeton Public Schools

Miles listed maintaining aging facilities and developing new buildings to accommodate population growth, particularly in grades 6-12, as his biggest education challenges.

New Jersey’s School Development Authority is currently helping the district plan a new middle school and is also providing funds for a high school expansion that includes a new gym, a three-story classroom addition, a bigger cafeteria, and additional parking and office space.

7. Distracting devices

During lockdown and remote learning, students’ mobile devices provided a critical connection to the outside world. Post-pandemic, those digital lifelines have become a major learning obstacle, says Dolente of the Cumberland Regional School District.

“Cellphones have become a major distraction in classrooms,” Dolente notes. “We are currently exploring creative ways to detach our students from their personal devices, which they were conditioned to utilize as their only means of communication, education and entertainment for almost two years.”

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“Advocacy is telling stories so people who aren’t in our buildings can understand what it’s like day to day,” says Shindel, the Maryland state coordinator for the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the influential professional association. “There’s a narrative out there and either we tell it or someone else does. If we don’t speak up, things are going to happen to our schools without our input.”

As a principal at four different schools over the past 14 years, Shindel has worked with community organizations to open a school-based food pantry and create scholarships so underprivileged students have the same opportunity to go on field trips as do their more affluent classmates. At one school, she and her team got a new hallway built to ease overcrowding.

And just as she is not bashful about bringing concerns to central office, she also encourages her middle school staff to make her aware of their own concerns. “Sometimes, it’s just having the courage to bring things to someone’s attention,” Shindel explains. “When teachers bring something to my attention, I thank them.”

She also regularly invites local leaders, such as the Howard County executive, and national leaders—such as Maryland’s U.S. senators and U.S. Department of Education officials—to tour her school. She also participates in local leadership programs by allowing people to shadow her during the workday.

‘Communicating and building relationships’

In 2021, the “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future” was launched to guide the state’s schools in adopting best practices for improving student achievement, school climate and other key aspects of the K12 system. Shindel is a big supporter of the initiative but objected to a proposal to require assistant principals to teach in classrooms a certain number of hours each week. “In theory, it’s an amazing idea, in reality, it’s not realistic,” she points out, adding that the Blueprint’s developers did not consult building leaders on this idea.

Even outside the classrooms, administrators do plenty of teaching, both academic and social-emotional, from coaching and observing teachers to connecting with students around the building.

At the federal level, she has teamed up with colleagues from the National Association of Elementary School Principals to lobby lawmakers on Capitol Hill. She and other principals try to meet annually with members of Congress or their staff to alert them to the needs of students and schools. “They ask questions, and we’re communicating and building relationships,” Shindel says.

A primer on political advocacy

If you have always been reluctant as a K12 leader to become more active politically, you’re not alone. “It can feel risky to choose sides in a messy
partisan battle when the goal up to that point has been to stay above the fray,” writes Marc Porter Magee, CEO of the education nonprofit, 50CAN, in his new FutureEd report, “Electoral Advocacy: Social Change Through Political Strategy.” “The first step is to let go of simplistic stories about how elections work. The truth is that building political clout through electoral advocacy is difficult, incremental and unpredictable.”

Magee tackles a few questions educators and advocates may have about political advocacy. For instance, can you actually persuade the public to vote for your cause? Research shows the answer is yes: “The most effective tool for getting voters to change their preexisting beliefs is storytelling,” Magee asserts.

It’s also OK for education advocates to recruit candidates, as long as they do so well in advance of the campaign to allow those candidates can build confidence and get up to speed on the issues. “Electoral work can matter but often fails to have an effect because advocates don’t engage in elections productively,” Magee concludes. “The more personal the tactics, the better.”

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As you can imagine, K12 institutions since the height of the pandemic have only gotten increasingly digital. In fact, 94% of all public schools reported providing a device to students who needed them last fall, per the latest data from the Institute of Education Sciences’ School Pulse Panel survey. One might assume that this would lead to fewer students using their lockers, implying that everything they need is on their devices. But this principal believes it’s a culture change.

Scott Gengler is the principal of Wayzata High School in Plymouth, Minnesota, which is home to 3,700 students. This year, he says only 100 students had requested a locker.

“At some point, we evolved out of lockers, and I think that was driven more from students choosing to carry backpacks around,” he says. “Our students haven’t accessed their lockers routinely for well over 10 years.”

He notes that given the size of the school, it’s probably easier for students to simply keep all their belongings with them rather than bounce between their lockers and their classrooms. But it may also point to a growing trend nationwide.

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Since the explosion of education technology over the past few years, the need to store things like textbooks has been eliminated, WRAL News reports. Many schools, like Tullahoma High in Tennessee, The Tullahoma News reports, first removed locker requirements during the height of the pandemic to reduce the risk of spreading but then realized that students preferred backpacks anyway.

“It seems like more and more kids are moving away from traditional locker use,” Gengler says. “I do think there’s a component of there being less ‘hard’ materials that kids are having to keep track of and navigate. We’re a 1:1 school with iPads. Textbooks aside, a lot of our teachers have gone digital with a lot of the material.”

Also, gone are the days, it seems, when students have multiple three-ring binders designated for each subject.

“The combination of all those factors together—backpacks are in style, you can reduce your curricular material load and our students only have four classes—I think our kids are finding it more seamless to navigate the school day keeping everything in a backpack versus having to go to a locker.”

Gengler says they’re currently in the process of renovations to remove their lockers floor by floor, which he says students will prefer.

“Kids will be appreciative because they feel like the lockers are actually getting in the way and causing congestion,” he says. “They’re basically stacked locker rows through the middle of a significantly wide hallway. By removing those lockers, they feel like there’s going to be better flow.”

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For many districts, the pandemic came as a wake-up call urging leaders to get up to speed in the edtech sense. According to David Hoffert, superintendent of Warsaw Community Schools, his community was ready.

“WCS has been a leader in instructional technology and was an early adapter to 1:1 technology,” he says. “When the pandemic hit, we were prepared with devices and basic instructional practices.”

What did come as a shock was the depth needed to adapt to the pandemic.

“The lessons learned pushed us out of our comfort zone and helped us create a model for post-pandemic instructional practices,” he explains. “Our movement—and continual push—is to create a synchronous learning environment when using technology. Students crave personal interaction and not a pre-recorded lesson.  Collaborative tools for new forms of communication with students, parents and the community have become a must!”

This frame of mind is also shared by Josh Carter, principal of Science Hill High School of Johnson City Schools in Tennessee, who took measures to ensure his school was utilizing technology before COVID-19.

“Prior to the pandemic, we had already made several important moves toward integration of educational technology,” he says. “We had been one-to-one for a couple of years. Our students have Chromebooks and our teachers were using Canvas and several other ed tools.”

However, he notes that the pandemic elevated the school’s use of these tools. It allowed all of his teachers to become fully immersed in Canvas, and now edtech is here to stay.

“That immersion has continued, and all of our classes have a robust presence on Canvas,” he says. “As far as other tech tools, our staff is much more likely to try new things post-pandemic. Most of our classrooms use technology to enhance their lessons on a daily basis.”

As K12 school districts continue to embrace innovative edtech tools, District Administration sought to understand which solutions have proven most successful for some of the most impactful leaders in education. And to no surprise, Canvas, VR simulations and Google products seem to dominate the education sphere.

Lenon Harvey, director of information services at Putnam County School District, which is led by Florida’s 2023 Superintendent of the Year Richard Surrency, says tools like GoGuardian, Clever, Canvas, GoogleWorkspace, Renaissance Learning Products, Savvas and McGraw Hill are among the tools that have had “a significant impact” on his district’s students and staff. What sets these platforms apart, he notes, is their efficiency, personalized learning experiences, collaboration and access to digital resources.

“We had a deliberate process for incorporating new edtech tools into our teaching and learning practices that ensures they are effective and safe for our students,” Harvey says. “Our IT department has recently developed a Technology and Infrastructure for Digital Education (TIDE) plan, which includes Innovation Navigators responsible for vetting the efficacy of new programs before they are implemented in our district. This ensures that all tools we adopt are thoroughly evaluated and meet our high standards for effectiveness, data privacy and security.”

He adds that they also utilize coaches within their “Teaching and Learning Department,” who evaluate the efficacy of curriculum programs before they’re adopted to ensure all aspects of teaching and learning are impactful.

Similarly, Carter says tools like Nearpod, IXL and Hapara are widely used by his teachers, which he says have profoundly impacted how teachers deliver content, student engagement and closing learning gaps.

To be a school that leverages edtech to enhance learning engagement, he says they must be innovative yet cautious to ensure their interventions are effective.

“Six years ago, our district started a Teacher Leader program for educational technology,” Carter says. “Each cohort participates in a year-long program that trains them to be technology leaders in their building. When a teacher at Science Hill wants to learn about a new tool, the teacher leaders are here to help. They provide professional development sessions as well as one-on-one assistance. These teacher leaders, along with our district supervisor of educational technology, vet potential ed tools regularly.”

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Don Killingbeck, superintendent at Hemlock Public Schools in Michigan, has long known the importance of technology in the classroom, which proved instrumental in their transition to remote and blending learning during the pandemic.

Since then, his district has added several platforms to its “edtech toolbelt,” such as Google Classroom, Paper, NWEA, Skyward, Kami, GoGuardian, Edgenuity, IXL and SAM Labs.

“Overall, these tools can be impactful for students and staff by providing greater access to resources, promoting personalized learning and improving communication and collaboration between teachers and students,” Killingbeck says.

“For the most part, we believe that technology tools should serve the purposes of either improving instruction or simplifying processes to make either or both the student and staff experience better,” he adds. “We believe that the best ideas come from staff in the field and try to harvest their ideas and implement them in a variety of ways.”

Fidelity, intuitiveness and ease of access for students, teachers and parents are some of the primary necessities of a successful edtech tool, WCS Superintendent Hoffert says. His district’s post-pandemic response is to focus on what works and what doesn’t.

“Too much of everything is nothing and unrealistic to support appropriately,” he says.

Tools like Google Classroom, Google Suite, SeeSaw, Canvas, Apptegy and ParentSquare have become some of the district’s most valuable solutions.

“Google has become a ‘go to’ in many facets of life and there is a comfort with parents along with ease of integration,” he notes. In addition, they’ve been intentional when it comes to relying on data and feedback to make such decisions.

“As a district of roughly 7000 students and 500 certified teachers, it is important that our technology department can support the devices and programs,” he says. “Through the feedback and continual evaluation, our teams are able to provide implementation and ongoing support of the recognized technological devices and district-approved programs.”

Alongside the explosion of education technology exists a need to support students as they prepare for a career after graduation. Jonathan

Prince, superintendent of St. Lucie Public Schools in Florida, said the goal is to mix the two ideas using virtual reality.

SLPS leverages a variety of simulations ranging from driver’s ed to welding. By using VR, students can gain real-world experience without the fear of seriously injuring themselves or others.

“These are very inexpensive tools to teach kids, particularly in career and technical education, how to use a welder and how to weld materials,” Prince says. “We have a lot of internships in our district with local industries, but the bottom line is a lot of times before those internships start, the kids are ready to go because of the technology they’re afforded in the classroom with some of these simulations.”

Edtech in 2023-24

As this school year soon comes to a close, district leaders have already begun preparations for 2023-24. If schools learned anything from the pandemic, it’s that we shouldn’t return to normal. And according to these leaders, they don’t intend to.

“It’s true that the edtech industry will continue to evolve and change in the coming years, and there will likely be winners and losers,” says Killingbeck. “The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of technology in education, and many schools and districts have had to quickly implement new solutions to support remote and hybrid learning. As we move forward, it will be important for districts and solution providers to continue to focus on providing effective and impactful solutions that meet the needs of students and teachers. This may require innovation, collaboration and a willingness to adapt to changing circumstances. Ultimately, the success of edtech solutions will depend on their ability to support student learning and achievement.”

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Students and staff at Mount Adams are nearing the end of one of their most successful years to date, Guaglianone notes. And with that, he says, has come an abundance of appreciation.

“We are hearing, ‘Thank you,'” he says. “Thank you for a year that has been what high school students anticipate they will receive in high school. They are saying thank you for the rigor, the structure, the safety and the meals that we provide. They are expressing hope for the future opportunities in their lives for which we are preparing them.”

One of the most meaningful accomplishments the district was able to achieve this year, he adds, was being able to keep students in school in person all year.

“This brought new life to our students and staff,” he says. “The successes include meeting students’ academic and emotional needs. We have changed lives forever. That is what we do—changing lives and setting students on a pathway to success. We have provided new high-level learning opportunities in and out of the classrooms. More students at our high and middle schools are involved in extracurricular events than at any other time in the history of our district.”

While many districts saw radical transformations across the board, whether in instructional technology, meeting the emotional needs of students or staffing, Guaglianone says his priorities for the 2023-24 school year remain the same as any other.

“Next year we will have the same priorities as any other year in this order: financial solvency, safety for all members of our learning community, making sure that all students are well-fed and mentally cared for to the best of our ability, and we will provide high levels of learning for all students, all day, every day,” he says. “Preparation for these initiatives will be to hire the very best, well-qualified and well-prepared diverse staff to serve our students and community and make sure that all existing teachers and staff have the tools they need to best serve our students.”

The beauty of leadership is that one’s priorities may align with others, no matter how their roles vary. For this elementary school principal, like Guaglianone, it’s all about putting others first.

Kimberly Vaught, principal of Allenbrook Elementary in Charlotte, North Carolina will soon become executive director of school leadership for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Those who have ever had the chance to have a conversation with her would likely attribute this promotion to the overwhelming passion she has for her students and faculty.

Rebound, forward movement and inspiration are words she uses to describe the 2022-23 school year. Allenbrook, which was once one of the lowest-performing schools in the state, is now a nationally recognized model school.

“We have had quite a few leaders from across our state come in and learn best practice, and I think that when they leave our school they’re inspired just based on the work of our kids who have typically been labeled marginalized and disenfranchised,” she says. “They’ve just really focused and been able to rally themselves and grow in such an exponential manner.”

She also notes that staff members of all types are saying this is the best year Allenbrook has ever seen.

“Not one time have I heard staff members complain about the work, but what I do hear bursting from the seems of our school is that there’s more to be done,” she says. “I hear about this ‘all in’ perspective from staff and they’re excited about what’s next for them.”

While Vaught will soon make the bittersweet transition to a new leadership role in the coming weeks, she reflects on her more than two years serving as principal at Allenbrook Elementary, which she believes has transformed in three distinct ways: students can determine their next, they’re given learning experiences outside of the classroom and now, the community has gone all in to ensure the school and its students thrive.

“Back in 2020 when I first arrived, I got a call from the sister of Dale Earnheardt Jr.—his foundation is located here in North Carolina—and somehow, Dale Jr. was researching because he and his wife Amy wanted to give back,” she says. “He wanted to find a low-performing school and somehow he came across Allenbrook.”

After that phone call, Earnheardt came in September of 2020 with a check for $135,000 no strings attached. Last week, he took a surprise visit back to the school for a book reading and to see how the school has rebounded, which Vaught describes as a full-circle moment.

“To have him and his team—the same people—come in less than three years later to the same kids, the same community and the same building, and to be able to say to him what a good steward he has been with his generosity,” she says. “But most importantly, the narrative had shifted in such a grand way. The kids were no longer at the bottom of the list. As a matter of fact, they are now the school where everyone across the state, everyone, comes to see them for good reason. We were able to tell him about moving from an F to four points from a B.”

“We’ve actualized and put in motion a vision that not only blesses kids but has put this community on the map,” she adds. Earnhardt and the school community can witness firsthand the impact of good stewardship for kids.

“He came in as a contributor and left as a beneficiary of the blessing,” she says. “I had to stand in that for a moment.”

As for 2023-24, Vaught wants to boost the success of her school and community in four ways: by building the capacity of the school community, learning to lead, being advocates for what’s right in communities that look like Allenbrook, and supporting educators on all fronts to lead.

“Certainly, we can sit and make excuses for why things aren’t happening,” she says. “I want for Allenbrook to continue to be the model for why things are and can happen. Allenbrook, even without me long after I’m gone, the brick and mortar of this building will still cry greatness, will still bleed excellence and will continue to be a beacon.”

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On Monday, the National Association of Elementary School Principals announced the recipients of the “2023 National Outstanding Assistant Principals” recognition. Twenty-seven assistant principals were celebrated for their contributions to their school communities.

“Assistant principals are uniquely positioned to effect meaningful change in schools, making them a critical piece of a successful school community,” said NAESP Executive Director L. Earl Franks in a statement. “Working closely with principals, these school leaders support faculty and staff—who need it more now than ever amid a national mental health crisis—and build a compassionate school climate that prioritizes student academic and social-emotional success.”

Each assistant principal also shared insight into some of their best practices and how they’ve managed to build a strong, supportive learning environment.

Here are three best practices from some of the nation’s most successful leaders in education:

Instructional Leadership

As author John C. Maxwell put it, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” This is a model that Makeda-Ione Brome, assistant principal of Chester A. Moore Elementary School in Fort Pierce, Florida, follows as an instructional leader.

“As an instructional leader I attend, support, and if needed, co-facilitate our daily K-5 math plannings,” she wrote. “The goal for collaborative planning is to use the strength of each teacher to bring out the best in all teachers and classrooms.”

It is through these data-related meetings that make it possible for her to shift school culture and connect students and families with the proper resources, and in turn, boost student achievement.

Connecting Students With Staff and Peers

For students, seeing a friendly face in the hallway is powerful, according to Gina Voges, assistant principal of Laurel Elementary School in Laurel, Delaware. It helps them feel a sense of belonging and trust in their leaders.

“Over the last few years, I not only wanted our students to have a connectedness to our school, but I also wanted to build on social-emotional learning,” she wrote. But during the pandemic, this became an extremely difficult task as students were forced to stay home without any face-to-face interactions with their teachers and peers. In response, the school developed seven virtual clubs in that nearly 150 students participated.

“This not only benefited our students’ well-being, but it was a nice change of pace for staff members who volunteered to run the classes on Zoom,” she wrote. “It was such a success we held another round of virtual clubs and added another 100 students.”

Establishing Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports

For this passionate leader, finding ways to enhance his school’s PBIS has become one of his greatest passions. Willie Burrel, assistant principal at Mona Shores Middle School in Norton Shores, Michigan, believes in the power of creating positive behavior systems and supports to build connections and relationships.

For instance, Burrel has connected with local restaurants to charter lunches for students, award students and staff with theme park passes through additional partnerships, and provide students with “school swag” and notify their parents of their accomplishments.

“It’s a big deal!” he wrote. “I believe the best practice of creating positive behavior systems and supports aligns directly with the best practice above of making connections and building relationships.”

“It helps me to be proactive instead of reactive,” he added. “It ensures we create goals. It holds us responsible to communicate with one another so that those goals are achieved. With these supports and others like it, we continue to see growth building-wide in commitment and accountability.”

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Student mental health and teacher vacancies are two of the hottest topics in meetings members of the National Associations of Elementary and Secondary School Principals are holding with Department of Education officials and members of Congress through Wednesday.

“Each and every day, our members work at the center of schools where they listen to and engage with students, staff and families to ensure that the needs of the community are being met,” NASSP CEO Ronn Nozoe said. “Representatives and policymakers must listen to their insights and heed their advice because it is the only way to reimagine and rebuild a system that ensures every student’s needs are met and provides access and opportunity to achieve their full potential.”

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Driving the National School Leaders Advocacy Conference agenda is NAESP research showing school leaders’ sense of urgency around helping students and staff cope emotionally with the trauma of the last three years. Principals also feel pressure to tackle high teacher turnover and provide “professional learning opportunities that target the new demands on the profession and changing needs of school communities.” “Leaving these issues unaddressed—or even under-addressed—will have a long-lasting negative ripple effect on education, the principal profession and student outcomes,” NAESP Executive Director L. Earl Franks said.

Solutions are steering the National School Leaders Advocacy Conference

The principals and their associations head to Congress on Wednesday to advocate for legislation they believe is essential to improving mental health care and reversing staff shortages. About three-quarters of both school leaders and students reported needing help with their mental or emotional health in 2022, an NASSP survey found. This has resulted in an increase in behavioral problems and students’ heightened fears of bullying and drug use in school.

And with one out of two school leaders thinking they may leave the profession within three years due to stress, principals and other administrators are hoping for increased federal investments in the educator pipeline and PD. Here’s a breakdown of the proposals.

Moving forward on mental health

• Elementary And Secondary School Counseling Act: Allocates $5 billion in new federal funding to establish two five-year grant programs to staff elementary and secondary schools with mental health services.
• Supporting The Mental Health Of Educators And Staff: Requires federal agencies to disseminate evidence-based best practices for preventing suicide, improving mental health and resiliency among educators, and training educators and school staff to care for their own mental health.
• Increasing Access To Mental Health In Schools Act: Establishes a new grant program to increase the number of mental health professionals at low-income schools by supporting partnerships between institutions of higher education and local education agencies to fund teaching, training, and employment of school counselors, social workers, and psychologists. It also expands student loan forgiveness opportunities for those professionals after five years of employment at qualifying schools.
• Mental Health Services For Students Act: Provides $130 million in grants to staff schools with on-site licensed mental health professionals.

Reversing staff vacancies

• Loan Forgiveness For Educators Act: Incentivizes candidates to work in early education programs and high-need public schools by
  having the federal government make educators’ monthly student loan payments. It would forgive federal student loan debts at the end of five years of service. This legislation would also make school leaders eligible for assistance.
• Educators For America Act: Invests $1 billion annually in the educator pipeline to ensure schools have a diverse, profession-ready workforce of teachers, principals, and specialized instructional support personnel. The legislation would boost outreach efforts to future teachers, expand educator residency programs, and invest in educator preparation programs.
• Preparing And Retaining Education Professionals Act: Expands the definition of “high need” districts under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to include schools experiencing teacher shortages in rural communities as well as in areas like special education, English language, science, technology, engineering, math, and career and technical education in order to give schools access to additional support.

The principals also intend to advocate for several budget initiatives, including more funding for Title I, academic enrichment, special education, career-and-technical education and K12 leadership development.

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Either way, superintendents know the pressures are mounting on their principals. In a third analysis, more than 80% of superintendents said they were concerned about falling morale and burnout among their principals, and two-thirds worried about being able to hire qualified candidates for vacant building leadership positions. About half are doubtful about their ability to retain their principals.

“Principals in every state are facing enormous challenges resulting in significant stress with no end in sight,” Ryan Merriwether, principal of North Junior High School in Evansville, Indiana, noted in the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ most recent survey of school leaders and high school students. “While we love working with students and teachers, our conditions are unsustainable and, if left unaddressed, could result in principal shortages that will be difficult to overcome.”

The same National Center for Education Statistics survey that found widespread job satisfaction also revealed that one-third of principals were less enthusiastic about their jobs than when they were first hired and that a quarter would leave the profession “as soon as possible” for a better-paying job. Principals who participated in the NASSP poll said a better work-life balance, higher salaries and more “societal respect” were the top three things that would prevent them from quitting.

What’s causing the problems for principals?

Political conflict and efforts by parents and others to limit what schools can teach are the leading sources of stress. Principals in many schools said parents have sought to block LGBTQ+ student rights, instruction on race and racism, access to library books and social-emotional learning, according to the “Educating for a Diverse Democracy” report by UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education and Access.

3 principals to watch: Reshaping learning landscapes through creative solutions

The situation is most severe in what the report calls politically divided “purple communities.” Political groups, some from outside the targeted districts, have concentrated their efforts on these communities that aren’t strictly liberal or conservative. One organization criticized by many building leaders is Moms for Liberty, an aggressive far-right organization that seeks to ban books, limit the rights of transgender students and stifle instruction on racism.

“At times, principals said that parents and community members employed anti-democratic practices such as spreading misinformation and employing threatening, denigrating, and violent rhetoric,” UCLA’s report says. “A North Carolina principal described these advocates as ‘small clusters of hate.'” This divisiveness is trickling into classrooms. Almost seven in 10 principals reported students making derogatory remarks to liberal or conservative classmates, another problem that is more common in purple communities.

As a consequence, building leaders are struggling to maintain their own mental well-being. A large majority of building leaders felt they needed help with their emotional and mental health, the NASSP survey found. Only a little more than half reported getting the assistance they needed. Just as troubling is that 70% of school leaders said they have been threatened or attacked either physically or verbally. A majority of principals are also worried about online and in-person bullying, drug use, sexual violence between students, gun violence, and attacks from the larger community.

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When Allrich became the principal of the school, which is part of Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, he discovered that not all of the students were getting the full magnet experience. English learners and students with IEPs, in particular, didn’t have sufficient access to the tech classes that anchor the curriculum.

“You do not test to come here, you choose to come here,” says Allrich, a former math teacher of Haitian heritage who said he applied to 15 schools and interviewed 10 times before he was hired as a principal. “If you’re here at Argyle, every year you’re here, you’re talking a tech class.”

How these principals solve problems

Allrich took a bottom-up approach to solving another problem he encountered when taking the helm at the middle school. Kids were regularly late to class, and one reason was that not enough educators were monitoring the halls, says Allrich, who was named Maryland’s 2022 principal of the year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Instead of mandating a new administrative policy, he formed a staff committee that decided, after talking with students, that more teachers and administrators were needed at classroom doors and in the hallways to build better relationships with students. A separate committee was formed to look into the high number of students being referred for disciplinary issues. The solution was daily advisory sessions, instituted shortly before COVID, that connect students with teachers at least once a week for social-emotional learning and to address other concerns.

“The idea is that when a problem exists, it doesn’t require the principal to come in and say, ‘This is the answer,'” Allrich explains. “It requires the principal to provide space to make sure the right voices are at the table so we can come together and decide what solution makes the most sense.”

In his spare time, Allrich hones his DJing skills, a pursuit he picked up in the early days of the COVID lockdown. Currently, his musical aspirations focus mainly on providing music for family gatherings. He also began raising chickens during the pandemic.

“The thing I love about them is I can’t tweet or text to communicate or care for them—I have to go into the yard to clean the coop. I can’t tech that away,” Allrich concludes. “It makes me think of what our children need. We have to reach them in a way that is separate from all of the tech and devices that we think we need in order to connect with them.”

When kids feel confident

For Principal Nicole Ey, reshaping the learning landscape at Ellenville Elementary School in New York is all about addressing more intensively the issues that were already of growing concern prior to the pandemic. First comes academics, and that means bridging learning gaps in math and reading, in particular.

“Literacy and math have been a priority since the day I arrived, but after the pandemic, they have become even more of a focus,” says Ey, who is New York’s 2022 National Distinguished Principal, a National Association of Elementary School Principals recognition program. “Kids are successful and feel confident about school when they can read—we’re putting all our eggs in that basket.”

The school educators are delivering targeted instruction in small groups, strong intervention and enrichment, and high-dosage tutoring before and after school. On the social-emotional learning front, counselors and social workers are visiting classrooms weekly to deliver SEL lessons on executive functioning, self-care, coping skills and other themes. Disciplinary issues have increased because many students missed out on the development of these skills when they were on remote learning, says Ey, who has taught kindergarten and sixth and eighth grade.

Post-pandemic positivity: Student self-reliance and teacher appreciation are up

“Attendance was a struggle before COVID and it’s even more of a struggle after COVID,” says Ey, whose school is part of the Ellenville Central School District. “Parents assume they can put on Google classroom if their student is out but there’s so much more to school socialization, especially for K-6 learning.”

When it comes to her teaching team, Ey says realized they have been stretched thin by the turbulence of the last few years. She is supporting them by, in part, pulling back on management. “I send one email out a week,” Ey explains. “I send one newsletter with everything teachers need to know for the week. Why? It’s something small but email has become overwhelming for everybody.”

She also makes a point of celebrating teachers’ successes and sharing the achievements throughout her school. Empowerment and empathy are also keys to her leadership philosophy. “I strive to be a leader who is honest, kind, patient, and willing to develop a collaborative, transparent, and open culture,” she continues. “Faculty and students benefit from the encouragement of a principal to be engaged in decision-making, problem-solving, and collaborative processes.”

Raising letter grades

Stephanie Silman, principal of Sahuarita Middle School near Tucson, Arizona, says being a servant leader means giving her team everything they need to succeed. “A large part of my job is to try to remove barriers and provide support to help others do their jobs to the best of their ability,” says Silman, who has led the school since 2009 and is now the National Association of Secondary School Principals 2022 principal of the year for Arizona.

Raising the middle school’s letter grade and incorporating social-emotional learning throughout the school day are among her biggest achievements. She and her team are also confident that they are providing students with a rich curriculum of core, advanced, and elective courses to prepare them for high school and life after graduation, says Silman, who began her K12 career as a high school Spanish teacher.

Her top priorities are now working collaboratively with the middle school’s staff to meet the academic and social-emotional needs of our students. “We are strategically providing personalized academic interventions during the school day and after school as well as implementing school-wide weekly social-emotional learning lessons embedded in the school day,” she notes.

One of the biggest challenges that her district, Sahuarita USD, faces is the ongoing teacher shortage. Her school and district are growing their own teachers from within the support staff and encouraging substitute teachers to become fully certified. Administrators have also partnered with the University of Arizona to develop undergraduate and graduate education students through field experiences and student teaching opportunities.

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