Teacher retention has been a growing concern for years and principal shortages are now rising alongside it. Data from Frontline Education’s 2026 K-12 Lens survey shows reported retention rates fell four percentage points in a single year. New research from the Learning Policy Institute points to a common thread: principals are among the strongest influences on whether teachers stay or leave.

So, what does intentional leadership development look like, and what impacts does it have? In this session, you’ll hear from Dr. John Settlage, a University of Connecticut researcher studying the organizational conditions that drive teacher turnover, including in hard-to-fill roles like STEM and among historically underrepresented groups. Dr. Kathryn Shuler, Chief Schools Officer at Orange County Public Schools (OCPS), along with Dr. Ashlynn Ramirez and Angela Feliciano, will share how their district has built a suite of leadership development opportunities to grow its next generation of school leaders from within.

We’ll explore:

• What the research tells us about teacher turnover, and what principals have to do with it
• How OCPS’s leadership development continuum works, from early teacher-leader opportunities through its “Trading Places” internship model, and what it has produced
• How districts can use human capital analytics to see retention trends and pipeline health in their own data

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