Content uploaded by Chunyan Yang
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Chunyan Yang on Oct 29, 2022
Content may be subject to copyright.
| PROJECT BRIEF
Finding Resilience
During the COVID-19 Pandemic:
Perspectives from School Leaders
September 2022
Project Brief Volume 1 Issue 2
Prepared by: Meg Stomski, Xueqin Lin, Hua Luo, Aukeem A. Ballard, Dr. Rebecca Cheung, and Dr. Chunyan Yang
Executive Summary
In the fall of 2021, most California public schools returned to in-person learning after months of remote
learning. This brought about additional challenges for our leaders, as their roles and responsibilities
continued to evolve and expand over the course of the pandemic (Clifford & Coggshall, 2021). For example,
principals found themselves in the position of bearing additional duties such as navigating public health
mandates and implementing pandemic-related policies, exacerbating the job-related stress that they
experience. In addition, recent research from The National Association of Secondary School Principals
(NASSP; December, 2021) reported that the pandemic conditions have contributed to alarming rates of
principals who are expecting to leave the profession. Specifically, NASSP found that 4 out of 10 surveyed
principals reported that they plan to leave the profession in the next three years. To minimize the already
high levels of turnover, burnout, and work-related fatigue experienced by our principals, it is critical to better
understand the levels of stress and stressors experienced by our principals and examine which groups of
principals are most vulnerable to burnout and what factors protect them from burnout. It is also important
to examine how the levels of stress have changed or remained the same across the distinct phases of the
COVID-19 pandemic, as each phase has elicited specific demands on our principals.
To address this research gap, our research team collected a second wave of the Principal Resilience survey
in the fall of 2021—a time when principals were navigating the return to in-person learning. Open to all who
served as K–12 school principals in California during the 2021–2022 school year, this survey was designed
to identify significant stressors and examine the psychological factors that protect school leaders from
burnout during the pandemic, including principal self-efficacy and district-efficacy, sense of connectedness
to the school and district, professional support, and professional core values. The survey was distributed by
21CSLA as well as UC Berkeley and UCLA Leadership Programs to regional directors of 21CSLA and networks
of Leadership program alumni during late fall of 2021. Specific to the current brief, we included longitudinal
data of principals who completed both the first and second wave of our survey, to draw comparisons
between the two phases of the pandemic. In addition, we also included open response data about how
principals have found their resilience during the pandemic, in order to highlight the voices of our school
leaders.
Results of stressor rankings indicate that principals chose additional duties surrounding public health
mandates as the highest stressor, followed by staffing shortages, implementing/communicating/reinforcing
pandemic-related policies, and meeting the needs of my school community as additional stressors,
respectively. Our longitudinal findings of compassion fatigue show that it continues to be essential for
school districts to foster collective efficacy for school leaders and involve them in the decision-making
process and making sure their voices are heard. Finally, the results from the open-ended responses indicate
the complexity with which principals are navigating the risk and resilience factors that come with their
work both in and outside the formal functions of their role. The results from these open-ended findings
highlight that school leadership happens outside of the formal work space, but also outside of the formal
role itself. Taken together, the findings from this brief suggest that the experience of stress and burnout as
well as effective support strategies, are areas where critical investigation is needed in order to address the
broader issues of supporting the wellbeing and resiliency of our leaders as they cope with the continuous
repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2PROJECT BRIEF VOLUME 1 ISSUE 2 – SUMMER 2022
protect them from burnout, as they navigated the return to
in-person learning. Specific to the second brief, we also included
longitudinal data of principals who completed both the first
and second wave survey, to draw comparisons between the
two phases of the pandemic. We also included open response
data about how principals have found their resilience during the
pandemic, in order to highlight the voices of our school leaders.
Specific Aims of Second Brief:
Main Research Question: How do California principals describe
the stressors, perceive their wellbeing, and find resilience across
different stages of school transitions during the COVID-19
pandemic?
1. Identify main stressors experienced by principals and how
the stressors have shifted across the pandemic
2. Understand school leaders’ wellbeing and factors that could
help reduce principal compassion fatigue
3. Explore effective strategies practiced by principals to
promote their resilience
Overview of the Principal
Resilience Survey
Open to all who served as K–12 school principals in California
during the 2021–2022 school year, this survey was designed to
identify significant stressors and examine the psychological
factors that protect school leaders from burnout during the
pandemic, including principal self-efficacy and district-efficacy,
sense of connectedness to the school and district, professional
support, and professional core values. The survey was distributed
by 21CSLA as well as UC Berkeley Leadership Programs and
UCLA Center X to regional directors of 21CSLA and networks
of Leadership program alumni during late fall of 2022. Survey
questions were adapted from the first wave of the study and
were split into seven sections: the first six sections included
response items on a Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5 and the last
section included an open response question.
While anonymous, the survey also collected personal and
school-level demographic information including the participant’s
credentialing process, current work environment, years employed
as a principal, years employed at current site (regardless of
their role), and years employed at current district (regardless
of their role) to better understand how principal resilience is
distributed across personal and environmental factors within
specific contexts and career trajectories. In order to examine
1) demographic differences across all response variables; 2) key
variables that influence compassion fatigue and principal self-
efficacy; and 3) potential associations between professional core
values and compassion fatigue, we conducted various statistical
analyses. The following sections highlight the major findings.
Background and Context
Overview of the First Brief
Our first brief, published in March 2022, included responses from
234 principals who completed our survey in the spring of 2021. In
this brief, we reported that principals across demographic groups
reported high rates of stress, but had different experiences
with regard to factors of resilience and wellbeing. We found
that gender, multilingual status, school location, and longevity
(years in profession) to be significantly associated with levels of
connectedness and efficacy. Regarding school level stressors,
principals rated “issues related to the reopening of schools” as
the most stressful stressor. Findings indicated that high levels of
connectedness with schools and districts, high levels of efficacy
at both school and district levels, and high levels of professional
support contributed to lower levels of compassion fatigue
among principals. Finally, based on principals’ self-reported core
values for pursuing a career in leadership, four distinct profiles
of principals were generated which differed from each other
with respect to their personal and school characteristics. Taken
together, the first brief suggested that the experience of stress
and burnout, particularly for certain demographic groups, as
well as effective support strategies, are areas where critical
investigations are needed in order to address the broader issues
of supporting the wellbeing and resilience of our leaders as they
cope with the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Changes in the Second Brief
In the second wave survey we continued to examine the levels
of stress experienced by our principals as well as what factors
ɖ Efficacy in school-level and district-level
improvement: Belief on how well the principal and their
district are executing the necessary actions to produce
improvements at the school level and district level
ɖ Connectedness with schools and districts: Feeling of
belonging to the school and district
ɖ Professional support: Individually sought job-related
support for principals that goes beyond what their school
site can provide
ɖ Compassion fatigue: Behaviors and emotions resulting
from being exposed to and knowing about a traumatizing
event experienced by others and the stress resulting from
wanting to help a traumatized or suffering person
ɖ Core values: Purpose and motivation for pursuing a
career in leadership
KEY TERMS
PROJECT BRIEF VOLUME 1 ISSUE 2 – SUMMER 2022 3
Demographic
Information of Survey
Participants
Data were collected from 209, K–12 school principals in California
who served during the 2021-2022 school year. Of the total
participants, 46 principals were returning participants who also
completed the first wave of our study. The total sample included
141 female participants and 64 male participants. The racial/ethnic
background of our participants were as follows: 5% Asian/Asian
American, 7% Black or African American, 61% Caucasian/White,
16.5% Hispanic/Latinx, 10% Multiracial, and 1% Native American.
With regards to educational background, 8% of our participants
held a Bachelor’s degree, 77% held a Master’s degree, and 11%
held an EdD or PhD.
68.8%
FEMALE
31.2%
MALE
GENDER
MULTILINGUAL
STATUS
49%
MULT I -
LINGUAL
51%
ENGLISH
ONLY
SCHOOL
ENVIRONMENT
22%
RURAL
34%
SUBURBAN
44%
URBAN
RACE/
ETHNICITY
16.5%
HISPANIC/
LATINX
61.0%
WHITE
AMERICAN
0.9%
NATIVE AMERICAN
9.5%
MULTIRACIAL
6.9%
AFRICAN AMERICAN
5.2%
ASIAN AMERICAN
6-10 65 31.6%
> 15 12 5.8%
YEARS
EMPLOYED AS
PRINCIPAL
COUNT PERCENTAGE
1-2 40 19.4%
3-5 62 30.1%
11-15 27 13 .1%
4PROJECT BRIEF VOLUME 1 ISSUE 2 – SUMMER 2022
The figures below show the top seven stressors rated by our
principals during the first wave survey (spring 2021) and the
second wave survey (fall 2021). As evident from the first graph,
principals chose the reopening of schools as the highest stressor,
followed by meeting the needs of the school community, and
stress related to technology-related issues during the first
wave of data collection. During the second wave of our study,
we included additional stressors in our survey items in order
to capture the changing demands and duties of principals
(e.g., COVID-19 related mandates and policies). In the second
wave data, we found that principals chose additional duties
surrounding public health mandates as the highest stressor,
followed by staffing shortages, implementing/communicating/
reinforcing pandemic-related policies, and meeting the needs of
my school community as additional stressors, respectively. The
shift in the highest ranked stressors across a mere few months
shows the evolving and expanding role of leadership during
critical times as well as the impact of staffing shortages across
education that is jeopardizing the wellbeing of our leaders.
Ongoing Stressors
throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic
In addition to the items listed above, about a third of the leaders
(29%) who completed the open-response question on additional
stressors shared that they were stressed about district politics
and organizational structures and practices. One principal
shared: “The district communicates belief in principals, but are
relying on old dysfunctional ways some departments are run that
perpetuate the same old patterns before school shut down. That
is most disheartening—when site leaders are expected to do a
lot more, while being held accountable, but central leadership
support departments don’t have consistency in their ability
to deliver central support.” Another principal shared similar
sentiments towards the district as well as the difficulties of
staying in the profession: “After 22 years as a site administrator,
this year is making me question how much longer I can sustain
doing this work. I have never felt the sense of utter chaos and
dysfunction from district and state leadership as I have this
year. There is a total disconnect between the daily demands of
site leadership in the pandemic and political expectations from
above.” Other principals also shared difficulties with staying in
the profession, such as this one principal who said: “This has
been the most challenging school year I have ever faced in my 15+
years. I have seriously considered leaving the field of education.
Parents are out of control and so disrespectful to school staff. It’s
just not rewarding at this point.”
The results from the stressors give insight into how principals
make sense of the factors that could lead to burnout and
compassion fatigue. It is important to note that even with
stressors already listed, roughly a third of the respondents
named, of their own accord, district politics and organizational
structures and practices as a stressor in response to the open
ended response. This might indicate the heightened role that
particular stressor plays in the work of principals during the time
of survey. Additionally, the open-ended responses indicate that
while principals are aware of their stressors, they navigate and
negotiate those stressors with a variety of tools and pieces of
their ecological systems.
WAVE 1 – TOP STRESSORS DURING COVID-19
I have been stressed about issues related to the reopening of schools
I have been stressed about meeting the needs of my school community
I have been stressed about technology-related issues
I have been stressed about my family members’ health and safety
I have been stressed about school or district politics
I have been stressed about issues related to school climate
I have been stressed about facility issues
4.05
3.64
3.23
3.1
3.07
3.05
2.97
TOP STRESSORS
LIKERT SCALE RESPONSES
1 2 3 4 5
PROJECT BRIEF VOLUME 1 ISSUE 2 – SUMMER 2022 5
In addition to quantitative data, the second wave included open
responses from our respondents in order to elucidate the voices
of our leaders. The open-response question appeared at the
end of the survey and asked about principals’ resilience factors
(“We’d like to learn from your personal resilience strategies
during these unusual times. Please tell us about the strategies
you used to support your resilience during the pandemic, and
if possible, what made these strategies successful” ). Principals,
as the leader of school communities and representatives within
the district, are influenced by a synergistic web between the
surrounding ecological contexts in which they work in. Thus,
we employed the ecological system theory (Bronfenbrenner,
1979; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006) to examine how principal
wellbeing is influenced by the interaction of their surrounding
systems. Emerging corresponding sub-themes determined
under the related ecological themes are depicted in the diagram
below. “Selected quotations” provide a preview of the principals’
experiences with sustaining and developing resilience in an era of
uncertainty.
Results from open-ended responses regarding resilience show
that 44.8% of principals navigate resilience at the individual
level of the ecological system of wellbeing. Many principals also
reported using various microsystem level factors of support
and connectedness (~34%). Only one response mentioned the
exosystem as a factor that helps contribute to their resilience
An Ecological Analysis of Principal Resilience
while many responses from the risk factors noted the exosystem
as a factor. Roughly 6% of the responses in the “Macrosystem”
mentioned the use of cultural beliefs and perceptions such as
spirituality, faith, and religion and moral and ethical commitments
as factors that contribute to their resilience.
The results from the resilience factors, paired with the stressors
we have examined in the early sections, help to round out the
ecological framework in that not only are there clear leading
resilience factors (i.e tools and processes principals use that help
buffer against the stressors), but also there are clear ways that
these principals are negotiating between resilience and stress to
navigate the ecology of their wellbeing. Some principals rely on
factors that rest at the individual level of the ecological system
(i.e. physical activity, self-care, positive thinking, etc), while others
tend to rely on the microsystem (i.e family, colleagues, school
communities).
WAVE 2 – TOP STRESSORS DURING COVID-19
TOP STRESSORS
I have been stressed about additional duties
surrounding public health mandates
I have been stressed about implementing, communication,
and/or enforcing pandemic related poilicies
I have been stressed about staffing shortages
I have been stressed about meeting the needs
of my school community
I have been stressed about health and wellbeing
I have been stressed about issues related to school climate
I have been stressed about my physical health and safety
LIKERT SCALE RESPONSES
4.26
4.14
3.93
3.65
3.47
3.26
3.25
1 2 3 4 5
6PROJECT BRIEF VOLUME 1 ISSUE 2 – SUMMER 2022
Longitudinal Findings—Perspectives
from Returning Participants
In order to get a deeper understanding of the changes across
the two waves of data, we also compared the data between
the first and second wave among our 46 returning participants.
Longitudinal data examines within-sample change over time
which allows us to measure the change of certain variables
across a duration of time within the same group of individuals.
The findings from the following section are pulled from the
longitudinal findings.
Time, Gender, and Efficacy
Continue to Matter
Compassion fatigue is an integrated indicator of burnout and
secondary traumatic stress experienced by principals when
they work with students, family and community members. It is
important to understand the trajectory of principal compassion
fatigue over a year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus,
hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to
examine how principals’ demographic characteristics and their
perceived efficacy beliefs, connectedness and support affect
their compassion fatigue from wave 1 to wave 2. The following
summarizes the key findings of our analysis.
1. Time matters. Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020,
principals’ level of compassion fatigue has significantly
increased over the two wave periods of time.
2. Gender matters. Overall, female principals experienced
higher compassion fatigue than male principals throughout
the pandemic.
3. Efficacy matters. In comparison to the effect of school
efficacy on compassion fatigue at wave 1, the effect of
school efficacy is stronger in reducing principal compassion
fatigue at wave 2. Furthermore, principals’ district efficacy
significantly reduced their compassion fatigue, and its effect
is also stronger at wave 2 in comparison to that at wave 1.
In other words, when principals feel more confident about
their districts’ effort in school improvement, they feel less
compassion fatigue.
AN ECOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
OF PRINCIPAL RESILIENCE
RESILIENCE FACTORS AT
MESOSYSTEM (11.2%)
ɖRole efficacy
ɖCollective efficacy
“We rely on our administration
team to continue to push our
school forward during this time. We
have developed a shared responsibility
to our goals as a school.”
Interactions
between the
different parts
of a person’s
microsystem
RESILIENCE FACTORS AT
EXOSYSTEM (0/3%)
ɖDistrict support
“Our district has organized
administrators and has been working
through Elena Aguilar’s book, Onward. We
do the work and then plan out how to share
what we do with our staff. This has helped
put things into perspective as well as helped
our staff develop resilience.”
External factors that
affect the individual
(e.g., district, policy, law)
“My faith is a firm
foundation for a
positive, resilient attitude.”
Cultural elements,
such as beliefs and
perceptions that
influence the individual
INDIVIDUAL
MICROSYSTEM
MESOSYSTEM
EXOSYSTEM
MACROSYSTEM
RESILIENCE FACTORS AT
MACROSYSTEM (5.7%)
ɖSpirituality, faith, and religion
ɖMoral and ethical commitments
“There have been a few peers
in my district that are in other
schools that I can reach out and talk. We
share similar experiences and deal with
similar issues. Finding a bit of time to call,
email, laugh, and joke about work and life
helps bring perspective. Without these
colleagues who are going through what
can only be called uncharted waters I
would consider walking away.”
The system
closest to
the person
and the one
in which they
have direct
contact
RESILIENCE FACTORS AT
MICROSYSTEM (34.0%)
ɖSocial connectedness
and/or support (e.g.,
friends and family)
ɖProfessional
connectedness and/or
support (e.g., colleagues
and school community)
RESILIENCE FACTORS AT
INDIVIDUAL LEVEL (44 .8%)
ɖPhysical activity
ɖPhysical wellbeing
ɖPsychological wellbeing
ɖPositive thinking
ɖHobbies
ɖWork/Life boundaries
“I’ve intentionally strengthened
boundaries between work and
home life, limiting the hours my phone is
on. I’ve worked to increase my time spent
on hobbies and other outside activities
that give me joy so work isn’t the only w ay
I am fulfilled.”
The individual
person’s own
actions and
thoughts
PROJECT BRIEF VOLUME 1 ISSUE 2 – SUMMER 2022 7
1. Additional Duties Leading to Heightened Stress:
Principals continue to experience very high levels of
stressors and the stressors rated as highest by our principals
were, additional duties surrounding public health mandates,
staffing shortages, implementing/communicating/reinforcing
pandemic-related policies, and meeting the needs of my
school community, respectively. The shift in the highest
ranked stressors across the two waves shows the evolving
and expanding role of leadership during critical times that is
jeopardizing the wellbeing of our leaders.
3. Time, Gender, and Efficacy Continue to
influence Compassion Fatigue: Levels of compassion
fatigue have increased between the first and second wave.
Additionally, female principals continue to experience higher
compassion fatigue across the two waves. Finally, the levels
of efficacy towards their school and district helps reduce as
well as predict levels of compassion fatigue across time.
2. Principal Resilience in the Ecological System:
Open-responses on resilience factors show that most
(44.8%) principals navigate resilience at the individual
level of the ecological system of wellbeing. Many principals
also reported using various microsystem level factors of
support and connectedness (i.e family, colleagues, school
communities ~34%). It appears that most principals rarely
seek out resilience factors from more external systems such
as support from the district.
KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM WAVE 2
Conclusions
and Next Steps
The second wave of our Resilient Leadership Project suggests
that school principals continue to experience high levels of
school-level stressors and compassion fatigue, some of which are
unique to the unprecedented challenges of crisis leadership as
schools returned to in-person learning and principals were faced
with added responsibilities. Finding ways to effectively support
our leaders by addressing the highest rated stressors and
examining the changes in stressors across waves may be critical
to reducing compassion fatigue and turnover. The results from
the open-ended responses indicate the complexity with which
principals are navigating the risk and resilience factors that come
with their work both in and outside the formal functions of their
role. In order to better support schools and their leaders, the
research must attend to the sense-making of principals as they
go about their lives. The results from these findings indicate that
school leadership happens outside of the formal work space, but
also outside of the formal role itself. That is to say, the principals
in our study are employing many methods and tools for wellbeing
that require them to see their role in the perspective of their
larger lives. Our longitudinal findings of compassion fatigue
shows that it is essential for school districts to foster collective
efficacy for school leaders and involve them in the decision
making process and making sure their voices are heard. It is also
important to provide additional support for those school leaders
who experience higher levels of compassion fatigue (e.g., female
principals), helping school leaders not only become aware of their
mental wellbeing, but also learn coping strategies to manage
their work-related stress.
Our next steps include collecting a third wave of data in the fall
of 2022 from our returning participants to further monitor how
their levels of compassion fatigue and stressors change across
the phases of the pandemic. We will also continue to collect
data from new participants in hopes of gaining a comprehensive
understanding of California leaders’ experiences across
different districts. We also hope to collect more qualitative
data to further explore school leaders’ perceptions of resilience
factors. Specifically, we hope to use the open responses to
better understand how schools and districts can help build the
resilience of our principals in order to minimize their levels of
stress, burnout, and turnover. Together, our data will inform how
districts, policymakers, and preparation programs can combat
leader compassion fatigue and increase principal support during
times of crises.
About 21CSLA
The original California School Leadership Academy was
established by Senate Bill 813 in 1983 and administered by
the California Department of Education until 2003. Senate
Bill 75 re-authorized the 21st Century School Leadership
Academy (21CSLA) in 2019. The grant is dedicated to the
professional learning and support of California’s educational
leaders—teacher, site, and district—to create more equitable
learning environments that improve success for underserved
students. Headquartered at UC Berkeley Graduate School of
Education, 21CSLA is led in partnership with UCLA School of
Education and Information Studies, the California Subject
Matter Project, and seven Regional Academies across the
state.
The 21CSLA initiative provides high-quality, equity-centered
professional learning for educational leaders of schools and
districts in California that receive Title II funds. Programs
are free to participants and include leadership coaching,
communities of practice, and localized professional learning
to improve instruction and achievement outcomes for
multilingual learners, students with disabilities, low-income
students, and other historically marginalized students.
21CSLA Equity Statement
Leaders for equity transform education to improve access,
opportunity, and inclusion for students and adults, especially
those who are systemically marginalized and historically
underserved, so that they can thrive.
Follow us
21CSLA website:
21cslacenter.berkeley.edu
Sign up for our mailing list:
21csla.tiny.us/news-signup
References
Clifford, M.A. & Coggshall, J.G. (2021). Evolution of the
principalship: Leaders explain how the profession is changing
through a most difficult year. American Institutes for
Research & NAESP. www.naesp.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/
LWNNEvolutionofPrincipalship.pdf
National Association of Secondary School Principals, “NASSP
Survey Signals a Looming Mass Exodus of Principals From
Schools,” news release, Chicago, Ill., December 8, 2021.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development:
Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.