The Geography of Principal Internships in North Carolina

Principal preparation programs play an important role in developing future school leaders’ skills and practices. Internships, or structured opportunities for future leaders to engage in the work of school leadership in hands-on, authentic ways are among the most essential components of principal preparation. Using longitudinal data from 12 programs in North Carolina, this study extends research on internships by examining the pathways of interns from prior- to post-internship employment. We find that internships are highly localized around interns’ prior- and post-employment schools, but not their preparation program, with wide variability in placements between programs. Interns’ demographics do not play a large role in shaping the geography of internship placements. However, we find that preparation program type is strongly related to the geography of internship placements, suggesting that differences in program structure may shape internship placements. We conclude by highlighting the limitations and discussing implications for future research.