The six school districts participating in the Principal Pipeline Initiative, a $75 million effort funded by the Wallace Foundation, have many of the same problems and goals, a new report finds.

Based on an evaluation conducted by Policy Studies Associates and the RAND Corporation, the report, Building a Stronger Principalship: Six Districts Begin the Principal Pipeline Initiative (84 pages, PDF), found that districts participating in the initiative are looking to develop a larger pool of strong principal candidates because of a decline in the number of quality applicants; that district leaders want to hold principals accountable by conducting evaluations of their performance; that they want to engage teachers as early as possible in their careers as a way to cultivate leadership talent; and that they are working to develop standards for principalship and align training, hiring, evaluation, and professional development with those standards. The six districts featured in the report — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina, Denver Public Schools, Gwinnett County Public Schools in Georgia, Hillsborough County Public Schools in Florida, the New York City Department of Education, and Prince George's County Public Schools in Maryland — serve thousands of low-income students.

While many policy makers consider principals to be a key factor in successful school reform efforts, many well-qualified candidates see the job as overly demanding and providing little in the way of job security. "These school districts, like others nationwide, face a problem: They need strong principals, but it's a demanding job that, in some places, offers little job security," said Brenda Turnbull, the lead author of the report. "They want to bring in new principals who are ready to meet those challenges. This report details how six large urban districts are launching efforts to find outstanding candidates, train them well, and then support them on the job. Other districts can learn from what they are doing."