Leader Tracking Systems

Good data about principals and applicants for the job can lead to informed decisions about hiring and other matters. Organizing and analyzing the data can be difficult, though.

Six large school districts set out to meet the challenge by creating databases called “leader tracking systems.” This report describes how. It also shares lessons learned in building and rolling out these systems.

The districts were part of The Wallace Foundation’s Principal Pipeline Initiative. This effort supported the districts in building a systematic approach to creating a large corps of effective school leaders. The approach involved developing rigorous leader standards, high-quality principal preparation, selective hiring and placement, and apt on-the-job evaluation and support. The approach proved successful in positively affecting student achievement and principal retention.

Leader tracking systems were part of the work. The data these systems collected on principals and principal candidates included:

• Background (race, age, gender, education, professional development received, and work experience)
• Measured competencies and strengths (past evaluations, leadership assessment scores, languages spoken)
• Schools served (school size, student demographics, and student performance during candidate’s tenure).

Advantages of Leader Tracking Systems

Districts found that leader tracking systems helped them with:

• Matching principals to school vacancies. Districts can review candidate data and quickly identify potential matches for school needs. Finalists can be easily compared with each other.
• Improving on-the-job support. Supervisors and mentors can easily gain access to information on each principal’s strengths and growth needs. They can then tailor support to the individual.
• Preparing for future leadership needs. The tracking system can help in forecasting retirements. The needs of schools with anticipated vacancies can then be compared with the capabilities of those in the candidate pool. Targeted recruitment can be stepped up as needed. 
• Improving the principal pipeline. Leader tracking systems can correlate school success with things like a principal’s prior experiences and on-the-job support. Districts can then see the type of preparation, selection criteria, and school leader support that make a difference in student learning.

Leader Tracking Systems and Fostering Educational Equity

A leader tracking system does not set priorities for a district. But it can supply important demographic data, including the numbers and characteristics of sitting and aspiring leaders. In doing so, it can highlight issues that districts should pay attention to and inform discussions about those issues.   

For example, when one of the districts began filtering data by race and ethnicity, it saw a gap. Black and Hispanic school leaders were in short supply relative to the student population. Learning that spurred the district to make greater recruiting efforts among teachers of color.  Another district examined its data on aspiring principals’ cultural competency. The “eye-opening” shortcomings the data revealed promoted new kinds of discussions about district needs. 

The Principal Pipeline Initiative school districts were: 

• Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C. 
• Denver
• Gwinnett County, Ga. 
• Hillsborough County, Fla.
• New York City 
• Prince George’s County, Md.