Background/Context: Progressive human resources thinking has suggested the importance of employee experiences for workforce engagement, inclusion, and retention, but the intentional design of positive employee experiences requires a deep understanding of workers' lived experiences in order to respond to their differentiated needs. Although the…

Principals play a critical role in improving schools, but high rates of principal turnover threaten improvement gains. In this study we used a mixed-methods design to examine school, district, and community factors associated with greater principal turnover, and explore how these factors differ for rural schools. We found that rural districts tend…

Individuals working in school settings are particularly vulnerable to work-related stress. Data from the 2013 Gallup-Health-ways Well-Being Index found that 46% of teachers in K-12 settings report high levels of daily stress (Lever et al., 2017). About 40% of Black or African American teachers were considering leaving their jobs, compared with…

Objectives: Despite all the attention given in recent years to work intensification among school principals, little research has explored the practices and strategies that principals employ to meet their job expectations and demands and how they adapt to the increasingly uncertain and complex school reality. This qualitative study identifies…

Educators, policymakers, philanthropists, and others have worked for decades to improve education by implementing new policies and practices to better serve students. But the desired improvement has been elusive -- more sporadic (and anecdotal) than systemic. Success can be difficult to sustain, and what works in one school may not work on the…

This case study explored the impacts of school shootings on K-12 school principals. Eleven school principals and assistant principals from rural, suburban, and urban areas in all regions of the United States were interviewed. The study answered two research questions: What impact do school shootings have on school principals? and What do…

In recent years, within the United States and globally, workforce members who directly and tangentially treat and serve traumatized individuals have begun to experience an additional occupational hazard in the form of compassion fatigue. Consistent school leadership can be a critical factor in increased student achievement and school-based…

This mixed-method study explored whether school staff (teachers, principals, vice-principals, paraprofessionals, school counselors, and school social workers) experienced any challenges while working in a school setting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from an online survey instrument and…

School principals play an invaluable role in schools', teachers', and students' success; therefore, it is of particular importance that we learn, through empirical research, about the factors related to recruiting and selecting school principals. This study critically reviewed 64 empirical literature studies that were published in the United…

Purpose: Work-related stress is a significant occupational health issue. Stress cannot be viewed separately from the perceptual or interpretive act by the individual. Self-efficacy is a personal characteristic that explains a high proportion of variation in the performance of school principals. Design/methodology/approach: The current study…

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, principals have taken on increased responsibilities. Principals who are thriving are praised for their resilience while those who are struggling are inundated with calls to build their resilience. In this conceptual article, we problematize the overemphasis on individual responsibility that is implicit in…

Problem and Purpose: Research shows that K-12 administrators experience a great deal of stress. This is also true of Adventist principals (Ledesma, 2011). Some suggest improved spirituality and quality of life can alleviate or manage stress. This study examines the interrelationship between job stress, spiritual well-being, and quality of life…

Research is an integral part of the UCL-led National Professional Qualification (NPQ) programmes. This is the fourth report in a series of research publications from the UCL Centre for Educational Leadership-led longitudinal study "The Impact of the Early Career Framework and NPQ Programmes on the Work Engagement, Wellbeing and Retention of…

Problem of Practice: School principals have a powerful effect on student achievement, school culture, and teacher turnover. According to the National Association of Secondary School Principals (2020), the average career of a school principal is four years, and one in five school principals leave their schools annually. These numbers are even…

This research investigated the relationship between school principals' toxic leadership behaviors and teachers' perceptions of organizational gossip using the relational screening model. The sample consisted of 276 teachers selected through a simple random sampling method from public schools in Sakarya province. The Toxic Leadership Scale and…