Racial Characteristics of School and District Leaders in Pennsylvania

Introduction

While there has been increasing and widespread focus on the racial characteristics of teachers in the US and Pennsylvania, far less attention has been given to principals and superintendents. This lack of attention is problematic because a growing body of research has found that principals of color have fairly large impacts on outcomes for both teachers and students of color.

In Pennsylvania, only about 12% of principals and superintendents are leaders of Color. These percentages have remained stable from 2014 to 2022. Charter schools employ a greater percentage of principal and superintendents of Color than school districts.

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