The path to Assistant Principal, one step at a time

What the title really covers

On paper you're the principal's second. In practice you're the person the building calls when something goes wrong. A fight in the hallway, a substitute who didn't show, a parent in the lobby who wants answers now: all of that lands on your radio. Most schools split the work between assistant principals by grade level or by last name, so you'll own a caseload of students for discipline and attendance. You'll also get a set of teachers to observe and evaluate, usually against a rubric like the Danielson Framework or your district's own version. Then there's the operational pile that nobody else wants. Bus duty, the master schedule, state testing logistics, the fire drill calendar, and the student handbook tend to end up on an assistant principal's desk. The job is less about big ideas and more about keeping a school safe and running so that teaching can happen.

From classroom teacher to the principal's office

1. 1

   Classroom Teacher

   You teach, grade, call parents and handle your own classroom management. People judge you on whether your room is calm and whether your students learn. The teachers who later move up are usually the ones who volunteered for extra work: department chair, a school improvement committee, mentoring new hires, coaching a team. That extra work is what shows a principal you can lead adults, which is a different skill from leading kids.

2. 2

   Instructional Coach, Dean of Students or Department Chair

   This is the in-between rung. As a coach you watch other teachers' lessons and help them improve, which is the evaluation muscle you'll need later. As a dean you handle discipline referrals, restorative conversations and parent meetings, which is most of an assistant principal's day. Some districts call this role an administrative intern. You're judged on whether teachers trust you and whether your follow-through is reliable.

3. 3

   Assistant PrincipalThis guide

   You own discipline, attendance, supervision and a share of teacher evaluations for your part of the building. You write observation feedback in the district's evaluation platform, run student support team meetings, investigate incidents, and sit in on accommodation and special education meetings as the administrator. Principals judge you on whether problems get handled before they reach their desk and whether the teachers you supervise get better. Parents judge you on whether you called them back.

4. 4

   Principal, or a district office role

   Here the path forks. Most assistant principals who move up become principals, where you own the budget, hiring, the school improvement plan and the relationship with the superintendent. Others move to the district office as a curriculum director, a special education coordinator or a director of student services. Those roles trade the daily chaos of a building for policy work and a lot more meetings. Some people find they like the assistant principal job and stay in it by choice, which is a perfectly good career.

What you'll use every week

These are the skills and systems hiring committees look for, and the ones that decide whether your weeks feel manageable or like a constant scramble.

The part of the job that wears people down

You'll be in the middle of everyone. Teachers want you to back them on discipline. Parents want you to back their kid. The principal wants the numbers to move, and the district wants the paperwork done correctly. Some days you can't make any of them happy, and you'll go home knowing it. The hours are long too. You'll work football games, concerts, dances and board meetings on top of a full school day, and summer is shorter than it was when you taught, because the master schedule and next year's hiring don't build themselves. Then there's the observation backlog. Evaluations have deadlines, and they compete with every fire that breaks out between classes, so plenty of assistant principals end up writing feedback on Sunday night. If you liked teaching because you liked teaching, know that you'll do very little of it now. The people who stay tend to be the ones who get real satisfaction from fixing systems and from helping a struggling teacher turn a corner.

Licensing before your first interview

Public schools almost always require an administrator or principal license, and rules vary by state, so check with your state's education department before you enroll anywhere. The usual pattern is a master's degree or certificate program in educational leadership, a supervised internship in a school, and a passing score on a school leadership exam. Many states use the Praxis School Leaders Licensure Assessment, while others run their own test. Most states also expect several years of teaching experience first, and the exact requirement differs. Private and charter schools can set their own rules, but they often still prefer a licensed candidate. Pick a leadership program with a strong internship, since the school where you intern is often where your first administrator job comes from.

What Assistant Principal postings ask for