Principals’ Most Important Education Goals

The National Center for Education Statistics has released two new Data Point Reports examining the education goals of public school principals by charter status, school level, and community type. When comparing the top three education goals of public school principals: Most principals, regardless of school locale, chose academic goals as one of their top three education objectives. Overall, 72 percent selected “Building basic literacy skills,” 69 percent chose “Encouraging academic excellence,” and 54 percent placed “Promoting good work habits and self-discipline” as one of their top three goals A higher percentage of principals in traditional public schools ranked “Building basic literacy skills” as one of their top three most important education goals (73 percent) than the percentage of public charter school principals (64 percent). On the other hand, public charter school principals prioritized preparing students for postsecondary education at higher rates than their traditional public school counterparts, 37 percent to 31 percent. Focusing just on high schools, a higher percentage of principals from suburban schools chose “Preparing students for postsecondary education” (66 percent) as one of their three most important education goals than the percentage of principals from rural schools (55 percent). In contrast, higher percentages of principals from rural and town high schools chose “Promoting occupational or vocational skills” (36 percent and 35 percent, respectively) as one of their three most important education goals than the percentages of principals from city and suburban high schools (both 23 percent). The tables in these reports feature data from the 2015–16 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS). To view the full reports, please visit: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020201 http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020202