Motivating the Motivators: An Examination of High School Principals’ Drive to Succeed

Abstract

While much has been written about how principals motivate their teachers, there is a surprising paucity of research on what motivates principals themselves. Because a principal significantly impacts the academic achievement of students and because principal turnover disproportionately impacts low-income schools, it is imperative that we find a way to keep principals feeling motivated. We examined what principals say provides them motivation to succeed and found that praise—from students, supervisors, and parents—is very meaningful to them.