Changing the Principal Supervisor Role to Better Support Principals: Evidence from the Principal Supervisor Initiative

Summary

In 2014, The Wallace Foundation launched the Principal Supervisor Initiative (PSI), a four-year, $24 million effort to redefine principal supervision in six urban school districts. The PSI aimed to help districts overhaul a position traditionally focused on administration, operations, and compliance to one dedicated to developing and supporting principals to be effective instructional leaders who had the skills to foster high quality instruction and learning. In this study report, researchers from Mathematica and Vanderbilt University describe the PSI experiences of districts, principal supervisors, and principals; the PSI's effects on teachers' perceptions of principals' performance; and lessons learned from the initiative.