Principals' time, tasks, and professional development: An analysis of Schools and Staffing Survey data

This study describes how principals reported spending their time and what professional development they reported participating in, based on data collected through the Schools and Staffing Survey by the National Center for Education Statistics during the 2011/12 school year. The study analyzes schools by grade level, poverty level, and within poverty level by whether schools made adequate yearly progress on student performance the previous year. Overall, principals reported spending an average of 59 hours a week on the job, with most of their time spent on internal administrative tasks. Principals of high-poverty schools that did not make adequate yearly progress reported spending more time on the job per week than did principals of high-poverty schools that made adequate yearly progress. Regardless of school poverty level, principals of schools that made adequate yearly progress reported spending more time on administrative tasks, curriculum- and teaching-related tasks, and parent interactions than did principals of schools that did not make adequate yearly progress. Though almost all principals reported participating in professional development, the most frequently reported type was workshop or conference attendance, and the least frequently reported type was university courses. An appendix describes the methodology used in this report.