The Value of School Principals in TALIS 2024

Executive summary

Research consistently shows that school leadership matters for teaching and learning. The OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024, the world’s largest survey of teachers and principals, reinforces this evidence. Valued leadership (i.e. teachers’ positive assessments of their principals’ instructional and relational leadership) is associated with a positive school climate, better professional outcomes for teachers and fewer reported teacher shortages. The results from TALIS 2024 also shed light on who valued principals are, where they work, what they do and the conditions in which they lead.

Principals who thrive are more valued

Principals who feel supported and satisfied may be better placed to lead and build strong relationships with teachers. Teachers’ appreciation may, in turn, strengthen principals’ job satisfaction and sense of effectiveness. In most education systems, more than 90% of principals are satisfied with their jobs overall, although younger and less experienced principals tend to be less satisfied.

Working conditions offer clear opportunities for support. Job satisfaction is higher when principals are satisfied with their salaries and other employment terms, and face fewer material resource constraints.

There are encouraging signs. Between 2018 and 2024, the share of principals reporting shortages fell for most resource areas examined, with the largest decline for digital resources and tools. In Viet Nam, the share reporting shortages or inadequacy of digital tools fell by 51 percentage points, reflecting sustained national investment in digital infrastructure for education. Satisfaction with pay also rose in many education systems; in Lithuania, the share of principals satisfied with their salary rose by 55 percentage points, following substantial improvements in principals’ pay and working conditions. Yet administrative burdens need attention: excessive administrative work remains principals’ most frequently reported source of stress, cited by around two-thirds of principals on average across the OECD.

Younger principals are highly rated but need support

Younger principals are more likely to be viewed as strong leaders. Yet those under 40 and newcomers to the role report higher work-related stress and are less satisfied with their pay and other employment terms. These principals are also less likely to lead urban and larger schools but are overrepresented in schools serving higher shares of students with special education needs.

Encouraging earlier entry into leadership therefore needs to go hand in hand with support. Austria promotes earlier entry through transparent, competency-based recruitment, structured leadership training and programmes that prepare future principals. It is the only participating education system where principals’ average age fell, from 55 to 53 years, between 2018 and 2024.

Leadership can improve through training

Support should not stop at appointment. TALIS 2024 links stronger instructional leadership to participation in two forms of continuous professional learning: self-initiated in-person learning activities and online training in digital tools for teaching.

Participation varies substantially. For digital training, it ranges from below 30% in France and Sweden to above 90% in Kazakhstan, Shanghai (China) and Viet Nam. For self-initiated learning, it ranges from 50% in Türkiye to 98% in Iceland, Poland and Shanghai (China). These differences warrant attention to how systems encourage and support principals’ continued learning.

Practices associated with valued leadership are not always adopted

Valued principals tend to prioritise curriculum and instruction, including classroom observation and teacher feedback. They support teacher leadership, use school- and classroom-based results in formal teacher appraisal, follow appraisal with development or training plans, and involve students, parents and the local community in decisions and school activities.

Progress in these areas is uneven. Between 2018 and 2024, the share of principals reporting opportunities for students to participate in school decisions rose by 6 percentage points on average, with the largest increase in Japan, at 37 percentage points. Japan strengthened its national curriculum, providing structured opportunities for students to participate in deliberation, collective decision making and the organisation of school life. Classroom observation and teacher feedback based on observations increased by 7 and 4 percentage points on average, respectively. Latvia and Spain, which have specific policies to strengthen classroom observation and feedback, were among the education systems with the largest increases. By contrast, the use of school- and classroom-based results in formal teacher appraisal fell from 70% to 61% on average.