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Turnover among school superintendents fell to its lowest level since the pandemic, according to a survey of the nation’s 500 largest school districts.
Just over 17% of school districts changed superintendents last school year, a number similar to pre-pandemic years, according to the ILO Group’s Superintendent Research Project. In contrast, between 2020 and 2023, there was a 45% increase in superintendent turnover nationally, according to previous research.
“Turnover may finally be moving back toward pre-pandemic levels, but the pandemic’s impact on school system leadership is unmistakable,” said Dr. Julia Rafal-Baer, co-founder and CEO of ILO Group. “Of the 500 superintendents leading these districts when schools closed, just 78 are still leading the same systems today. That’s a glaring fact because leadership change can interrupt strategy, reset priorities and force districts to start over before the work has time to produce results.”
The researchers also found a slight increase in the number of women serving as superintendent, up .8% to 34%.
This story was originally published by EdSource.