Hearing the
voices of principals

They support teachers around instruction and influence the experiences students and teachers have in our schools. A school where teachers and their principal are clicking is a sight to see. But without good principals, our great teachers struggle to thrive and sometimes even leave the profession.

I like the word “barometer” to describe principals – they are in an ideal place to see what’s happening in our education system. That’s why the Minneapolis Foundation is glad to be a part of a groundbreaking study of a crucial part of our schools’ success: Principals.

To that end, we teamed up with the University of Minnesota and Joyce Foundation in 2021 to elevate the voice of principals through a first-of-its-kind statewide survey. We were proud to sponsor this research, convenings that brought people together to discuss it, and ongoing work this year to continue the project and track data over time.

The Minnesota Principals Survey is a comprehensive survey of hundreds of school leaders. The results were released in 2022 and shared with principals across the state and the Minnesota elementary and secondary school principals’ associations.

The survey’s key findings included that principals feel challenged in their roles. But even though responses were gathered during the disruptions of COVID, these leaders were still quite optimistic. Some 83% of those surveyed either somewhat agreed or agreed they were generally satisfied with being a leader in their school. This satisfaction was often the result of their relationships with students and staff, along with the opportunities they have to see students grow. And 93% of leaders reported they felt their work is valued by the staff in their school.

The care our educators put into their roles for the sake of Minnesota students is remarkable. This survey is an important tool to measure acute matters that influence principals’ experiences, but also to study trends over time. To that end, we’re proud to help support another round of surveys this fall.

One topic we’re interested in is survey responses related to principals’ workloads. Leaders reported they worked, on average, nearly 59 hours a week – and more have said that’s not sustainable. Furthermore, our principals also reported they need more, and better, professional development; genuine support addressing mental health issues among staff and students; and more support in developing and supporting culturally responsive pedagogy.

In the fall of 2022, Dr. Katie Pekel and her team conducted nine focus groups with principals from across the state to delve deeper into the quantitative findings from the survey. Pekel, who is Executive Director of Educational Leadership for the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota, said that while the survey can tell researchers a lot, the focus groups helped her team to better understand the nuances of concerns voiced by principals in their responses. The focus groups will also inform the second iteration of the survey later this year. The University hopes to gauge whether issues raised by principals are improving over time.

“While a survey can tell us a lot, we wanted to truly understand what principals meant when they described worries about mental health, culturally responsive pedagogy, and other topics,” Pekel said. “Focus groups illuminated what the survey data alone could not tell us. As a result, we plan to release five briefs this spring that will provide policy and practice recommendations to state and district leaders and legislators.”

Pekel has presented the survey date at several conferences and discussed the results with leaders statewide. She described the philanthropic support from the Minneapolis Foundation and Joyce Foundation as a catalyst for shifting how Minnesotans think about the role of principals.

“I’m excited to see what the 2023 survey data will tell us, and optimistic this early support could lead to state support to continue to survey principals, much like we engage students via the Minnesota Student Survey.”

The Minneapolis Foundation looks forward to the 2023 survey. We will also support metro-area principals, teachers, support staff, and nonprofits to implement equity-focused efforts in education through our 2023 Reimagine Education grant round, which will be announced this spring.

We also invite all Minnesota parents, education advocates, superintendents, and legislators to dive into the Minnesota Principals Survey results to consider the concerns raised by our principals. These leaders are interested in influencing both district and state policy at a critical and exciting time for our students and school communities. We should listen to them.