It can be hard to predict what St. Paul Central High School principal Cherise Ayers will encounter when she walks through the doors each day.
I would describe a day in the life of a principal as everything everywhere all at once, Ayers said. I am like the mayor of a small town. There are so many things happening, and Central is actually larger than some small towns.
Principals like Ayers have an outsized impact on their schools. Research shows effective school leaders have a big impact on student achievement, teacher retention and other outcomes important for kids.
Many, though, are overwhelmed. A newly released University of Minnesota report on Minnesota K-12 school principals found school leaders struggling for traction on instructional leadership and community engagement as they deal with their single greatest challenge, student mental health.
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
The principal really, really matters, and theyre overwhelmed, said Katie Pekel, executive director of educational leadership at the University of Minnesota. If youve got a good principal, you get lower student absenteeism rates and you have better student academic outcomes. So we do need to be concerned about our principals.
The report from the Us College of Education and Human Development is based on a statewide survey of thousands of Minnesota principals conducted in November with a strong enough response that the college considers the findings conclusive.
Among those findings, 94 percent agreed that student mental health challenges are a significant barrier to student learning.
For Ayers, social media and technology are major contributors to the anxiety and emotional outbursts she sees students struggling with.
We can all be everywhere from our living room youve got this device in your hand that takes you everywhere. And you can either experience everyones pain and trauma, or you can experience a lot of peoples joy, Ayers said. It impacts our students, because they start to internalize all of those things that theyre seeing.
I would describe a day in the life of a principal as everything everywhere all at once, says Cherise Ayers, who took over St. Paul Central High in 2022. A newly released statewide survey reveals the increasing stress principals face.
Courtesy of Cherise Ayers
The effects are not limited to high school students.
Emily Casselius, principal at Goodview Elementary in southeastern Minnesota, said she sees her students struggling with anxiety, depression and friend relationships, making it hard to focus on school work.
Im fortunate enough to have a counselor and a school social worker in my building. Both are part time and theyre spread very thin. And were just seeing more students needing a more intense level of support than what we can offer within a school day, Casselius said.
Beyond Goodviews doors, Casselius said its hard to get assistance from providers since theres a shortage of practitioners.
Similar to responses recorded in a 2021 survey, principals remain overwhelmed with the amount of work theyre required to do. Many said their job responsibilities far exceed the time they have to fulfill them.
For Cassellius, her job as principal is layered.
My day is very unpredictable. I come into my day with kind of a plan of these are the things I need to work on, this is going to be maybe time in my office, this is time Im going to be in a classroom. But then throughout the day, there might be a student with maybe a behavior that needs support, or we have a (substitute) shortage and maybe I need to sub instead of do the principal tasks that I had planned for the day.
In addition to last-minute disruptions, Casselius said her goal of instructional leadership is thwarted by a mountain of administrative tasks, district meetings, budget management, timesheet approval and emails.
Over the last 12 months, another mountain of work has been added to the plates of school leaders: dozens of new laws from the Legislature regarding things like reading instruction and non-exclusionary discipline.
Its a lot, Casselius said. It took a lot of time just to read and digest and truly understand what they were expecting.
Principals across the state voiced widespread concern that many of the mandates passed in 2023 were not fully funded or supported. Many reported needing more information and guidance to implement the changes as well as time to plan and train staff.
Ben Bakeberg leads Jordan Middle School and also serves in the Minnesota House as a Republican representative from Jordan.
We passed over 65 mandates on schools last year, and some of them are really good ones. But then if were going to do that, we need to make sure that we're very, very explicit in what is expected, said Bakeberg.
Thats the biggest thing when I looked at the survey, he added. There was all this pent up stuff, especially around discipline, that people wanted to get done because of a political win. And its negatively impacting kids right now.
Many principals reported doing less work now than they were in 2021 on culturally responsive leadership. Thats likely due to a lack of time and a fear about the potential divisiveness within communities, Pekel said.
Despite the many concerns raised in the 2023 survey, many school leaders are generally satisfied with their jobs and say they are working slightly less now than in 2021, although theyre still averaging 57 hours per week.
People that choose to go into education, they do it because they want to love and serve kids. No other reason. People are not going into education to indoctrinate kids to push their political agenda, Bakeberg said. We need to get back to respecting educators.
Pekel wants to see school systems try a different approach to developing principals, including paid internships and continuing professional development on topics like culturally responsive pedagogy and instructional leadership.
She also wants to see the job itself change to spread the responsibilities that fall squarely on principals.
The problem with that, she acknowledged, is we never want to spend more money on administration.
Go here to read the rest:
Student mental health needs, 'unsustainable' jobs overwhelm Minnesota school principals - MPR News
- Mental Health - June 23rd, 2018 [June 23rd, 2018]
- Mental Health - Harvard Health - July 26th, 2018 [July 26th, 2018]
- Mental Health UK :: Home - July 26th, 2018 [July 26th, 2018]
- Mental Health : NPR - July 26th, 2018 [July 26th, 2018]
- Mental Health | Youth.gov - July 26th, 2018 [July 26th, 2018]
- Mental Health - Orange County, Florida - November 2nd, 2018 [November 2nd, 2018]
- Care Manager - Tarrytown, NY | MHA - November 3rd, 2018 [November 3rd, 2018]
- Home - Henderson Behavioral Health - November 16th, 2018 [November 16th, 2018]
- Adult Mental Health | Georgia Department of Behavioral ... - November 23rd, 2018 [November 23rd, 2018]
- A Digital Home - Mental Health Partners - November 23rd, 2018 [November 23rd, 2018]
- Mental Health | Health & Wellness - November 23rd, 2018 [November 23rd, 2018]
- Mental Health UK - Working together for everyone's mental ... - November 23rd, 2018 [November 23rd, 2018]
- Mental disorder - Wikipedia - December 20th, 2018 [December 20th, 2018]
- Mental Health | NCAA.org - The Official Site of the NCAA - December 26th, 2018 [December 26th, 2018]
- Home - SAMHSA Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator - December 26th, 2018 [December 26th, 2018]
- Volunteers of America's Mental Health Services | Volunteers ... - December 26th, 2018 [December 26th, 2018]
- Mental Health CSG Justice Center - December 26th, 2018 [December 26th, 2018]
- WHO classifies 'gaming disorder' as mental health condition - CNN - December 26th, 2018 [December 26th, 2018]
- Adult Mental Health - December 26th, 2018 [December 26th, 2018]
- Mental health - Wikipedia - December 27th, 2018 [December 27th, 2018]
- What Is Mental Health? | MentalHealth.gov - December 27th, 2018 [December 27th, 2018]
- New York State Office of Mental Health - December 27th, 2018 [December 27th, 2018]
- Mental Health and Mental Disorders | Healthy People 2020 - January 1st, 2019 [January 1st, 2019]
- Mental Health - CHOC Children's - January 1st, 2019 [January 1st, 2019]
- Mental Health Care | Health.mil - January 1st, 2019 [January 1st, 2019]
- Outpatient Mental Health Facilities programs City of ... - January 2nd, 2019 [January 2nd, 2019]
- Mental and Behavioral Health - AAP.org - February 11th, 2019 [February 11th, 2019]
- Sleep and mental health - Harvard Health - February 11th, 2019 [February 11th, 2019]
- Mental Health: American Diabetes Association - February 11th, 2019 [February 11th, 2019]
- Mental Health Problem Symptoms, Causes and Effects - February 11th, 2019 [February 11th, 2019]
- Promoting Childrens Mental Health - AAP.org - February 11th, 2019 [February 11th, 2019]
- Ten Things You Can Do for Your Mental Health | University ... - February 11th, 2019 [February 11th, 2019]
- Mental Health | MS Department of Mental Health - February 11th, 2019 [February 11th, 2019]
- Mental Health Screening Tools | Screening 2 Supports - February 11th, 2019 [February 11th, 2019]
- What is mental health - February 11th, 2019 [February 11th, 2019]
- MS Department of Mental Health - February 11th, 2019 [February 11th, 2019]
- Mental Health Hotline | 24 Hour Mental Health & Illness Helpline - February 12th, 2019 [February 12th, 2019]
- 50 Mental Health Quotes for Happiness and Success (2019) - February 12th, 2019 [February 12th, 2019]
- Mental illness - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic - February 21st, 2019 [February 21st, 2019]
- Home Page | Department of Mental Health - March 8th, 2019 [March 8th, 2019]
- Mental Disorders: MedlinePlus - March 23rd, 2019 [March 23rd, 2019]
- Mental Health | Healthy People 2020 - March 23rd, 2019 [March 23rd, 2019]
- Health - lds.org - April 13th, 2019 [April 13th, 2019]
- Mental Health | ADA - September 11th, 2019 [September 11th, 2019]
- Faces of Loudoun: Mental Illness Just Means I Need Help Now and Then - Loudoun Now - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- Youth mental health work more important than ever after tornadoes, shooting - Dayton Daily News - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- BOMBARDED Part 3: Mental health struggles weigh heavily on LGBTQ+ youth - Keizertimes - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- The Uses and Abuses of the Term Mental Illness - National Review - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- Natures Role in Mental Illness: Prevention or Treatment? - Psychology Today - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- Meghan Markle Says There Is a Global Consciousness Crisis Regarding Mental Health - TownandCountrymag.com - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- Letter from the Editor: Michigans mental health crisis is affecting all of us. Something must be done - MLive.com - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- Voices For Mental Health: Clodagh, on how Ireland has changed its perspective on mental health #NowWereTalking - hotpress.com - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- Timberlake Jr. High teacher's focus on mental health earns her Idaho Teacher of the Year award - KXLY Spokane - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- New rule could leave tens of thousands in Michigan without their mental-health counselor - MLive.com - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- Lawmakers and law enforcement officials push for more mental health beds in northwest Wisconsin - WEAU - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- One Way to Think About Mental Health: Zero-Proof Cocktails - Houstonia Magazine - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- Evaluating Jumaane Williams' proposal to reform mental health crisis response - City & State - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- How to talk to children about their mental health - TODAY - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- NC bill aimed at providing more mental health resources in schools - WSOC Charlotte - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- Northeastern University researcher studies the use of social robots in mental health and well-being research - News@Northeastern - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- 'The way universities are run is making us ill': inside the student mental health crisis - The Guardian - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- TC's Greg Epstein and Kate Clark talk mental health startups and the 'Cult of the Founder' - TechCrunch - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- Key resources: Shining light on mental health in New Hampshire - WMUR Manchester - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- Mental-health issues hit home for lots of Michigan families. Including mine. - MLive.com - September 27th, 2019 [September 27th, 2019]
- Voices For Mental Health: Kano, on telling his truth - hotpress.com - October 3rd, 2019 [October 3rd, 2019]
- See which Michigan counties have highest, lowest ratio of mental-health providers - MLive.com - October 3rd, 2019 [October 3rd, 2019]
- The Politician: why the Netflix show is being criticised by mental health charities - iNews - October 3rd, 2019 [October 3rd, 2019]
- In survey of working women in Japan with mental health issues, a third blame harassment at work - The Japan Times - October 3rd, 2019 [October 3rd, 2019]
- Brexit is affecting our mental health, warn doctors - cosmopolitan.com - October 3rd, 2019 [October 3rd, 2019]
- Odd Socks Day helps to tackle stigma and discrimination around mental health - The Sector - October 3rd, 2019 [October 3rd, 2019]
- Statehouse Online: Rep. Puppolo advocates for mental health and education funding - WWLP.com - October 3rd, 2019 [October 3rd, 2019]
- Living By The Coast May Be Better For Your Mental Health, Study Finds - CBS Boston - October 3rd, 2019 [October 3rd, 2019]
- Jumaane Williams: De Blasio and McCray have failed on mental health crisis - New York Post - October 3rd, 2019 [October 3rd, 2019]
- Family of accused Woodfield Mall driver says his mental health is to blame, not terrorism - WGN TV Chicago - October 3rd, 2019 [October 3rd, 2019]
- Supes Haney And Ronen Unveil Sweeping Mental Health Bill, Mayor Is Quick To Oppose It - SFist - October 3rd, 2019 [October 3rd, 2019]
- Discord in SF City Hall over ambitious mental health system overhaul - Mission Local - October 3rd, 2019 [October 3rd, 2019]
- Your Mental Health and Your Work - Harvard Business Review - October 3rd, 2019 [October 3rd, 2019]
- Mental health and the court system - WCBI - October 3rd, 2019 [October 3rd, 2019]
- Artists to work on mural downtown in support of mental health - pacificsandiego.com - October 3rd, 2019 [October 3rd, 2019]
- Providence St. Patrick Hospital How to know if you have a mental illness? - KPAX-TV - October 3rd, 2019 [October 3rd, 2019]