Rural Principals’ Dual Role in Supporting Pipeline Programs

Reaching across the boardroom table and shaking hands with the school board president, Brenda Gray* accepted Tamaroa School District’s principal-superintendent position this summer. Behind her were the framed photos of principals—all men—who have led the six-school, 250-student district in Southern Illinois previously. In front of her were the community members and educators who voted her into the position.

The rural community’s education leadership journey took a big leap forward that day, but Gray’s preparation started over a decade before. Like many rural educators, she crisscrossed the region in search of leadership positions. Gray joined Tamaroa in 2003 as a kindergarten teacher and moved on to roles including multitiered system of supports coordinator, reading specialist, and new-teacher coach.

She was tapped for leadership positions and completed formal leadership education at a nearby university, but her talent development wasn’t deliberate or focused. “Thinking back, my principals recognized and encouraged me to take on more leadership roles,” she says. “The principals—who were mostly men—opened some doors and provided mentorship for me. But my experience took persistence, luck, and support from many.”

Believing that talent development shouldn’t be left to chance, Gray sees her new role as providing more coordinated and consistent leadership opportunities to current and future educators through principal pipeline improvement. “We have a responsibility as principals to recognize educators’ leadership abilities and lift them up with opportunities to lead, and this is every leader’s responsibility, regardless of race or gender,” she says.

Bridging a Gap

Helping in the effort is the Bridge Project. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the partnership between WestEd, Illinois Regional Offices of Education, and 22 Illinois school districts aims to improve principal pipelines in small school districts throughout Illinois, with a focus on increasing racial and gender diversity in the principal workforce.

The project’s professional development unit, the Bridge District Learning Network (BDLN), defines a principal pipeline as a talent management system that covers career development processes stretching from early career to advanced leadership roles. Unlike the patchwork development principals typically experience, principal pipelines are coherent, coordinated, intentional systems guided by a common set of standards.

Pipeline models have emerged mostly from large urban districts, however. “We found existing pipeline models need to be adjusted for small districts like those in Illinois,” says WestEd district coach and Bridge Project Director Lauryn Fullerton. “Principals—together with central office teams, Bridge coaches, and researchers—are learning and creating the models together.”

Principals’ engagement in pipeline development is essential to their success in rural and small districts because they know their schools and communities best and what it takes to lead them. Rural principals are also responsible for growing leadership talent in their schools, and they work through their networks and across districts to support the pipeline.

At BDLN, we believe rural principals have a dual role in supporting the pipeline. Inside the school, they systematically and equitably create intentional leadership opportunities for educators and serve as their first mentors. Beyond the school, principals must engage with central office administrators and universities to design and scale pipeline practices as regional pipeline designers.

All principals have pipeline responsibilities for developing future leaders—teacher leaders, department and grade-​level chairs, assistant principals, and others on staff. Pipeline work often falls into “other tasks as assigned,” but most leaders feel an ethical responsibility for the future of the profession. “When I was learning to lead, I had principals willing to hold the ladder and help me climb, and I saw that as my continued responsibility as principal and now as coach: to support the next generation,” says Diane Rutledge, a Bridge Project coach.

Inside the School

In a school, principals lend pipeline support because they know the intricacies of the role like no one else and are best situated to translate their knowledge to the next generation of leaders. The National Rural Education Association and numerous researchers say that leading rural schools requires a different set of identities, skills, and know-how, however. Here are some hallmarks:

• Rural school principals’ work is deep and broad. Due to limited financial resources and staff, rural principals must develop specialized skills while balancing a range of responsibilities.
• Rural leadership requires transparency. In rural communities, principal leadership is under the microscope. Leadership happens in schools, at the supermarket, and on front porches.
• Rural principals are network-builders. Given longer distan­ces, rural principals must develop strong professional networks for themselves and others to exchange ideas and resources.
• Rural principals are entrepreneurial. Rural schools tend to be smaller and have fewer resources, so rural principals need to be social and financial entrepreneurs to equip schools.
• Rural principals double as community leaders. Rural principals’ activities frequently extend beyond the school to coordinate services and events that support children and families.

Given these unique aspects of rural principals’ roles, they are positioned to support pipelines in schools by working interpersonally and systemically. Specifically, principals can:

• Model behaviors and mentor future leaders. Principals can intentionally create interpersonal relationships that advance others’ capacity for equity-centered, effective leadership through mentoring or coaching.
• Create equitable opportunities for educators to lead and learn. Principals can establish an explicit, equitable system to distribute leadership responsibilities and support by sharing agreed-upon school leadership profiles and rubrics for each professional level. They assign tasks based on leadership competency rather than seniority or convenience.

Recognizing, supporting, and advancing leadership is an effective grow-your-own strategy for rural districts. It takes time and practice, but principals see dividends for rural schools, such as establishing a common language for leadership, supporting teacher retention, and distributing leadership to competent staff.

Outside the School

Beyond the school, principals lead pipeline development through their work at the district and regional levels. Principals often join central office administrators and community groups to support community education, health, and safety, according to The Resilient Rural Leader: Rising to the Challenges of Rural Education, a 2024 book by Melissa Sadorf. This is essential because:

• Rural principals network to support leadership development. Rural principal networks are essential pipeline supports for identifying, mentoring, recruiting, and supporting current and aspiring principals. Principal networks share knowledge and know-how to sustain leaders’ work and development, especially when few principal supervisors, human resource directors, or other administrators are available nearby.
• Principals know pipeline systems because they experience them. Rural school principals provide important perspectives on system assets and gaps because they often have recent experiences with human resources, preparation, evaluation, and other aspects of pipeline systems. Their perspectives are essential for improving systems and disrupting assumptions about educator retention and advancement.
• Principals are ambassadors to prospective leaders. Rural principals know their schools, educators, and communities well, so they can represent them in recruitment, hiring, preparation, and retention conversations.
• Principals are a first source for mentorship and development of aspiring principals. Rural locations might be far from universities, so aspiring principals must travel long distances, move, or distance-learn to earn administrative certificates or advanced degrees. Internship and residency requirements might be fulfilled in the rural schools where candidates currently teach, so principal mentorship and support are important to aspiring principals.
• Principal relationships provide incentives for educators to work in rural schools. Large urban districts often attract and retain principals through centralized recruitment departments, higher salaries, and the allure of metropolitan living, while rural schools are sometimes viewed as steppingstones to larger districts. Principal pipelines can focus on leadership learning, aiding retention while building a deep bench of future leaders.

While important, going beyond the school can be challenging for already busy rural principals, who might not have assistant principals to back them up. Principals working to support pipelines at scale should:

• Grow talent regionally. Often, grow-your-own models take a go-it-alone approach, especially if districts take a competitive view toward talent acquisition. Rural principals like Gray can develop their skills in multiple districts within a region, though. Principals and pipeline leaders have to think and act for the benefit of regional systems.
• Know where you are from and how leadership is changing. Pipelines address workforce issues, so principals can encourage colleagues to (1) leverage state data on principal pathways to describe a “catchment” area for emerging talent, and (2) develop a principal profile that describes what principals need and do to be successful in the region.
• Ensure your voice has equal impact. Before joining in pipeline work, principals should ensure their engagement is equal to others’ voices so they can meaningfully contribute to decisions, programs, and actions. Agreed-​upon time commitments and representation should be in place prior to engagement.
• Represent principals’ ideas and opinions. When principals join pipeline teams, they should consider themselves representatives of other principals in their districts and networks. Those at the table should remain in close touch and vet ideas with other principals.
• Read the research. Principals and principal networks should seek out pipeline research that shows promise for aspiring and current principals. With models and research in hand, principals can advocate for practical pipeline solutions.
• Share your story. Principals’ leadership development experiences influence pipeline development in small and rural districts and can advance others’ work.

Building a Network

One of Gray’s first actions as principal-superintendent was developing a 90-day entry plan to set the foundation for her leadership agenda. She is now engaging a “kitchen cabinet” of in-district educators and a transition team that includes her network of superintendents and community members.

In alignment with her long-term vision, Gray is carefully selecting actions that are symbolic of her leadership agenda, and principal pipeline work is high on that list. She is joining other districts in the region to improve leadership pipelines and engage other principals in the design process because she is committed to holding the ladder for teacher-leaders and assistant principals as they progress in their leadership journeys. In this next chapter of her journey, Gray is dedicated to supporting principal pipelines as a dedicated strategy to develop more, and more diverse principals, particularly in rural communities.

*Some names and details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

Brianne Dotson, Ed.D. is a systems change senior program associate with WestEd.

Matthew Clifford, Ph.D. is director of leadership research at WestEd.