This dissertation contains three essays on the role of school principals and educational outcomes. The first essay estimates the effects of demographic congruence between teachers and their principals on teacher turnover. Teachers working under same-race principals are less likely to leave their schools. The effects of racial congruence between teachers and principals on teacher turnover are stronger for Black teachers than White teachers. These findings are mostly driven by teacher turnover across school districts among different types of teacher turnover. The second essay examines the impact of having a nonwhite principal on the perceptions of teachers about school climate. As the percentage of nonwhite teachers increases at a school, it is positively related to teachers' response, on average, that their nonwhite principals give them regular and helpful feedback about their teaching. Furthermore, teachers are more likely to give higher ratings on Black principals prioritizing the learning needs of children when the proportion of Black teachers increases. The third essay studies the role of principals on student disciplinary infractions by utilizing a longitudinal difference-in-difference approach. Comparing the gaps in school discipline between White and Black students, I find that Black principals are more likely to reduce gaps between Black and White students. Specifically, having Black principals reduces the gaps in rates of out of school suspensions between Black and White students by 9 percent points on average.
Transitions to a new principal are common, especially within urban public schools, and potentially highly disruptive to a school's culture and operations. We use longitudinal data from New York City to investigate if the effect of principal transitions differs by whether the incoming principal was hired externally or promoted from within the school. We take advantage of variation in the timing of principal transitions within an event-study approach to estimate the causal effect of principal changes. Changing principals has an immediate negative effect on student test scores that is sustained over several years regardless of whether hired internally or externally. However, externally hired principals lead to an increase in teacher turnover and a decline in perceptions of the school's learning environment, whereas transitions to an internally promoted principal have no such effects. This pattern of results raises important questions about leadership transitions and the nature of principal effects on school quality.
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