Building leadership stability : exploring the relationship between superintendent tenure and principal retention rate
[EMBARGOED UNTIL 08/01/2026] Superintendent tenure is critical to school district stability, whereas principal retention is significant to school success. Retaining principals is among superintendents' key tasks, but the relationship between a superintendent's tenure in a school district and the rate at which principals stay remains empirically uncertain. Given the low stability and voiced concerns regarding the labor dynamics of leadership positions in rural districts, this study explored the relationship between superintendent tenure and principal retention rates in rural school districts. It followed Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin school superintendents from the 2009 to 2022 school years and tracked the principals in each year of their tenure in a school district to determine whether superintendents become more effective at retaining principals over time. Using regression with state- and year-fixed effects, this study examined whether the longer a superintendent stayed in a school district, the higher the retention rate of principals in that district was. Moreover, it investigated whether this relationship was strengthened in rural school districts. The findings indicated a positive association between years of experience as superintendents serving in school districts and principal retention rates. However, the extent to which superintendent tenure influenced principal retention rates across rural and non-rural school districts showed no statistically significant differences. This study's contribution lies in its comprehensive and empirical examination of superintendent stability's implications for school leaders' continuity across four Midwestern states. Furthermore, the study highlights the necessity for policies that more effectively account for variations in leadership labor dynamics across district locales and state contexts.
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