State of the Superintendent — High Job Satisfaction and a Projected Normal Turnover Rate: Selected Findings from the Fifth American School District Panel Survey

Abstract

Numerous accounts suggest that public school superintendents are burned out and frustrated by the accumulated stress of steering schools through the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and political polarization, and that they are increasingly at risk of mass attrition. However, despite high stress levels and similarly dire predictions for teachers and principals, there has been a noticeable lack of heightened turnover among teachers and principals thus far throughout the pandemic. These contradictory signals beg the questions: Are superintendents satisfied with their jobs right now, and will they leave at higher-than-normal rates? This analysis suggests that, as of spring 2022, superintendents have positive feelings about their jobs despite the many challenges schools have faced both before and throughout the pandemic, and they do not plan to depart the profession at heightened rates. This is the first of two reports with results from the spring 2022 survey of the American School District Panel (ASDP). [For the companion report, "Districts Continue to Struggle with Staffing, Political Polarization, and Unfinished Instruction: Selected Findings from the Fifth American School District Panel Survey," see ED621840.]