Economics of Education Review, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 243-252, 1995 Pergamon Copyright © 1995 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved 0272-7757/95 $9.50+0.00 0272-7757(95)00005-4 What Makes a Good Principal? How Teachers Assess the Performance of Principals DALE BALLOU and MICHAEL PODGURSKY Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, U.S.A. Abstract--This paper examines the performance of public school principals as rated by teachers they supervise. Work experience outside of education does not raise performance ratings, nor does administrat- ive experience at the current or previous schools. The only experience which is associated with higher performance ratings is teaching experience. Graduate training, even in school administration, is generally associated with lower performance ratings, a finding which raises questions about the licensing require- ments for principals in most states. Finally, teachers tend to rate a principal of their own race or sex higher, an effect most pronounced for women, who consistently give male principals lower evaluations. [JEL I21 ] 1. INTRODUCTION teachers; nonetheless, the training and selection of principals warrants examination as well. All 50 states require that public school principals ONE CONSISTENT finding in the research literature on be certified. While certification requirements vary 'effective schools' is that good schools have good from state to state, they usually involve accumulation leadership, of academic credits in education courses (National Association of State Directors, 1991). Many states Effective schools seem to be headed by principals who require a masters degree in education, typically in have a clear vision of where they are going, who are education administration, and it is now Common for knowledgeable enough about teaching to help teachers persons who pursue careers in administration to and students work toward desired ends, and who are able acquire PhD or EdD degrees. The current system of to protect schools from the kinds of demands that make preparing and certifying school administrators has no it difficult for schools to operate on a professional basis, shortage of critics. The National Policy Board for (Chubb and Moe, 1990, p. 84) Educational Administration, a commission created by the administrators' professional association, calls for This is surely a reasonable finding, for while the per- greater "professionalization" of school adminis- formance of the teacher in the classroom ultimately tration, recommending, among other things, that a determines success or failure of the educational end- doctorate in educational administration be required of eavor, the general school environment can signifi- all (new) principals and superintendents, as well as cantly reinforce or undermine a teacher's best efforts a training program involving a full year of "clinical in the classroom. Moreover, the principal may play residency" (National Policy Board, 1989). Other crit- an important role in hiring staff, assigning classes, ics have taken the opposite tack and advocate lower- and providing instructional guidance for teachers. For ing entry barriers to non-traditional personnel, parti- good reasons, policy discussions of school reform cularly those with management trainihg and private have tended to focus on standards for students and sector business experience (Peterson and Finn, 1986; [Manuscript received 22 July 1993; revision accepted for publication 21 July 1994.] 243