6 EDCAL April 22, 2019
TURNOVER
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Staff and alumni pose for commemorative photos during Walnut High’s 50th anniversary party on March 7.
Walnut High celebrates 50 years
Hundreds of Walnut High School
alumni, staff, students and community
members joined a 50th anniversary cele-
bration held on March 7.
The school was founded in the rural
Southern California community of Wal-
nut in 1968 with 600 students and has
grown to become a top-performing school
in the nation with over 2,300 students.
“I would like to thank all the staff
members who paved the way for the past
50 years and contributed so much to
this school,” said Walnut Valley Unified
School District Superintendent Robert
Taylor. “Walnut High is a great school
with outstanding students, staff, parent
and community support, and a wonderful
blend of tradition and innovation.”
The program commemorating five de-
cades of Mustang legacy included student
entertainment, historical videos, special
guests, and school tours.
“Walnut High was built on a rich
tradition that dates back to the beginning
with principals Jack Ingram, Don Skraba,
Ken Gunn, Russell Lee-Sung, Jeff Jordan,
and now myself,” said Principal Brandon
Dade. “My predecessors set the standard
of excellence that we continue to appreci-
ate and value each and every day.”
Guests were eager to pose for com-
memorative photos, browse through year-
books and memorabilia, and mingle with
fellow graduates and faculty members.
“One thing that’s been a common
fact for 50 years is that everyone who
either attends or works here still keeps
in touch—and that speaks volumes,” said
Assistant Superintendent and Walnut
High alum Jeff Jordan.
pals the necessary skills and competencies
for school leadership.
• Improving working conditions to fos-
ter principals’ satisfaction with their role.
• Ensuring adequate and stable com-
pensation for principals, commensurate
with the responsibilities of the position, to
value principals’ contributions and to attract
and retain effective leaders.
• Supporting decision-making authority
in school leadership to allow principals to
shape decisions and solutions to address the
specific needs of their staff and students.
• Reforming accountability systems to
ensure that incentives encourage effective
principals to stay in challenging schools
to support teachers and improve student
learning.
“The research consistently highlights
the relationship between principal effec-
tiveness and student success,” said NASSP
Executive Director JoAnn Bartoletti, in a
press release. “It also highlights our nation’s
consistent underinvestment in principal
effectiveness. The findings and this report
and those forthcoming as this project con-
tinues will provide clear direction on the
ways NASSP can provide guidance in how
to retain and continue to support our best
leadership talent.”
The brief notes that several studies have
found a clear relationship between principal
turnover and student test score losses across
grade levels and subjects. This relationship
is stronger in high-poverty, low-achieving
schools — the schools in which students
most rely on education for their future
success.
The authors suggest that higher turnover
in these schools is likely because they tend
to have fewer resources, more challenging
working conditions, and less competitive
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salaries compared to better-resourced
schools.
While the national average rate of
principal turnover is approximately 18
percent, turnover is higher in schools with
high concentrations of students living
in poverty (21 percent). In Miami-Dade
County Public Schools, for example, 28
percent of principals in the highest-poverty
schools leave each year compared to 18
percent of principals in the lowest poverty
schools; and in Philadelphia, 33 percent of
principals working in the highest-poverty
schools leave each year compared to 24
percent of principals in the lowest poverty
schools. While the bulk of turnover is due
to voluntary retirements or such factors as
principals seeking less-challenging schools,
better prepared principals (including those
who have had internships and/or mentors)
are better-equipped to manage challenges
and stay longer, even in under-resourced
schools.
“The research is clear: Schools with the
fewest resources, which are usually those
with the most underserved students, are
more likely to see high principal turnover,”
said LPI President Linda Darling-Ham-
mond, in a release. “Because principals
are so critical to student success, this is a
priority issue that policymakers must ad-
dress if they are to ensure that all students
learn in schools led by strong leaders who
are well-supported to stay and lead their
schools for the long run.”
This brief was released as more than 350
principals from across the country pre-
pared to meet with members of Congress
in Washington, D.C., at the 2019 NASSP
Advocacy Conference and 2019 NAESP
National Leaders Conference. A second
brief will be released in summer 2019 and a
third brief and final report are scheduled to
be released in the fall.
Read the full report online at bit.ly/
PrincipalTurnover