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Recent reform initiatives, such as the Title I School Improvement Grants and Race to the Top, recommended a principal change to jump-start school turnaround. Yet, few educational researchers have examined principal change as way to improve schools in a state of systematic reform; furthermore, no large-scale quantitative study has determined the immediate or longitudinal impact of principal change on school performance. Using 9 years of school performance data, this study examined the impact of principal change on elementary schools' scholastic achievement in reading and mathematics. Specifically, it examined whether a principal change was associated with initial improvement and longitudinal improvement of school reading and mathematics achievement. Findings suggest that principal changes did not substantially influence initial student achievement or school performance trajectory. Furthermore, these findings suggest that making a principal change does not predispose a school for improving school performance.

This brief examined the patterns of reading achievement using statewide data from all students (Grades 3–10) in multiple years to examine gaps based on student, school, and district characteristics. Results indicate reading achievement varied most between students within schools and that students’ prior achievement was the strongest predictor of current achievement. Achievement gaps were identified for males, Black students, students receiving meal subsidies, and schools with higher proportions of students receiving meal subsidies. A “clientele effect” was also found. Policy implications are discussed.

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