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Principal Recruitment in a Reform Environment: Effects of School Achievement and School Level on Applicant Attraction to the Job

Applicant pools for principal vacancies are shrinking nationwide. Increased job demands, including greater accountability on the part of principals for student achievement, are making the job less attractive at a time when many principals from the baby boom generation are retiring. Furthermore, there is little empirical knowledge about factors that affect principal recruitment. This study took place in a state undergoing systemic school reform. Randomly selected assistant principals (n = 189) role-played as job applicants and rated high school principal jobs varied by school student achievement classification (meets goal, progressing, in need of assistance), school location (inner city, suburban, rural), and participant current work assignment (elementary, middle school, high school). The most significant finding, detected by a three-way analysis of variance, was that 64% of the variance in job ratings was accounted for by school achievement, with low performing schools being greatly disadvantaged in recruiting principals. Implications for recruitment practice and research are discussed.