School leaders of color face high levels of burnout — here's what they need to thrive

This story was Originally published by Chalkbeat. Subscribe to their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

In 1999, when I was a new teacher, I was grateful to have a colleague across the hall from me who was also new to the profession. We exchanged stories, shared strategies, and commiserated about our shared challenges in lesson planning and staying connected with students' families.

However, somewhere along the way our experiences at the same Florida elementary school diverged. While my colleague was asked to lead a grade-level team, I was chosen to lead the school’s Black History Month programming. After school, she oversaw academic enrichment while I oversaw detention. On weekends, she led a program for students while I coached the basketball team.

My colleague was a white woman. I am a black man.

My first leadership opportunities reflected important school staffing needs and aligned with my skills. And while these assignments were mostly enjoyable, they did not prepare me for the next steps on my leadership path. Through dogged persistence, informal mentoring from other leaders of color, and a fair amount of luck, I became a principal and, later, a district superintendent. However, the system was not set up to support my success.

That’s because male educators of color are often “channeled” into disciplinary roles, and men and women of color report being chosen to lead equity initiatives and perform other roles that don’t necessarily leverage their educational experience. Principal and superintendent roles are increasingly centered around instructional leadership. That means many educators of color who take on leadership early in their careers lack the kind of experience hiring managers look for when recruiting for leadership positions in schools and districts.

Many of the non-instructional efforts that educators of color are required to undertake involve additional time, additional stress, and little to no pay. It’s a perfect recipe for burnout. Is it any wonder that the turnover rate for educators of color is higher than the national average? If we don’t address this, the continued loss of talented educators of color from our schools will persist, making recruitment efforts even more difficult.

Today, only one in five teachers and principals and only about 10 percent of superintendents are people of color. Given what we know about how teachers and leaders of color benefit students, and the role principals of color play in recruiting and retaining more diverse teachers, closing representation gaps in leadership is one of the most urgent challenges facing our education system.

When I left the superintendency in 2021, I knew my work was not done. I co-founded the nonprofit Men of Color in Educational Leadership to address the many ways race, gender, and implicit bias shape (and too often impede) educational leadership opportunities. While our mission is focused on men, much of our work also addresses the overlapping needs and experiences of women of color in educational leadership.

In 2022, we hosted a series of focus groups with more than 300 principals, assistant principals, and superintendents of color. These men and women worked in cities, suburbs, and rural communities. We sought their insights on how to survive and thrive in their careers. Participants also identified policies and practices that prevent educators of color from advancing into leadership roles.

We turned what we learned into a free online framework and toolkit we call Resilient and Representative Leadership. Educators of color can draw on these resources when planning their leadership journey or navigating career obstacles or unexpected events.

We also know that encouraging resilient leaders of color without creating systems that support their progress is another recipe for burnout. Over the past few months, we’ve had the opportunity to share our findings with school officials across the country, including at conferences for district administrators and state education leaders.

In these polarized times, I’m glad that our framework is resonating with education officials across the political spectrum. Dozens of state and local leaders have reached out to me to share how they are embracing the strategies we’ve identified, including:

Identity-aware professional development

Our professional learning communities bring together educators of the same race and gender with the support of an expert facilitator who shares their expertise. These groups foster safe, trusting spaces for leaders of color to be vulnerable and engage in self-reflection, learning, and planning around their leadership needs, strengths, and experiences. District officials have shared that combining traditional affinity spaces with professional learning has helped them develop and retain leaders of color.

Pairing leaders of color 1:1 with mentors of the same race and gender

Each of us, regardless of our racial, ethnic, or gender identity, can take steps to support educators of color on their leadership journeys. For example, we can listen without judgment and make connections to help our colleagues expand their professional networks. Still, the superintendents we’ve connected with recognize the value of teaming leaders of color with role models who have walked a similar path. One school principal of color told us that being paired with an educator who shared her experience was the first time she had a mentor who truly understood the unique challenges she faced on the job.

Identify pain points, set goals and track progress

We can’t fix what we don’t know about, so after collecting data on the experiences educators of color face, our organization works with district leaders to address issues and track progress toward clear, measurable goals (e.g., recruiting, retaining, and promoting educators of color). As one official shared with us, this work creates benefits for teachers and leaders of color while improving working conditions and opportunities for all educators in her district.

As a former superintendent, I encourage school officials to take bold, unapologetic action when educators of color face injustice. This kind of leadership could have made a huge difference for me from my early days as an elementary school teacher in Florida onward. Even in regions where typical DEI initiatives aren’t delivering, we’re seeing leaders adopt evidence-backed strategies to strengthen and diversify leadership because it delivers real results where it matters most: in schools, for all students.

chalk rhythm It is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

Related:
5 ways to regain your passion for teaching
Key Strategies for Educational Leaders to Boost Morale
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