5 Top Challenges Facing Educational Leaders in 2024

Alicia Hunter, a public educator who has worked as both a classroom teacher and district administrator, has witnessed firsthand the challenges that schools face on a daily basis. Whether modernizing the classroom or creating instructional programs, Hunter and fellow educators regularly experience challenges of leadership that require strategic responses and well-honed problem solving skills.

Take Riverside Elementary School in Degraff, Ohio, for example. A rural school with approximately 43 percent of its students living in poverty, only half of Riverside’s third-grade students demonstrated proficiency in English Language Arts. Educators struggled to support these students as scheduling difficulties and a lack of sustainable programming often thwarted successful interventions. Educational leadership at Riverside decided to take a multidisciplinary, teacher-based teams approach to the problem. Through staff collaboration, evidence-based curriculum and universal student screening, the school’s English Language Arts proficiency levels rose to 91 percent.

Throughout the country, educators are rising to meet common leadership challenges with creativity and determination. Consider five of the top challenges in education today and discover the innovative leadership skills needed to promote student success. 

 

Responding to Changing Technology 

“With regard to technology, you can never learn enough. Technology changes so rapidly that what you are reading about will be different tomorrow!” 

So says Marymount University Ed.D. recent graduate Dr. Harold Thomas, who has worked in education for 26 years. As a long-term practitioner of educational leadership, Thomas speaks for many of his fellow educators when he acknowledges how quickly the digital world moves—and how greatly that speed affects schools. Instead of encouraging educators to become tech experts, though, Thomas highlights leadership skills such as intellectual curiosity, hard work, and lifelong learning as critical traits of the modern leader in education who wants to leverage technology for the benefit of students and schools.

Educational technology usage in schools has increased by 99 percent since 2020. These numbers are expected to continue rising as new developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning lead to academic applications. Today’s educational leaders will benefit from a learning mindset and a collaborative approach to implementing technology. 

 

Rebuilding Student Connections 

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted education in many ways, not the least of which is rising absenteeism rates. Many educators are struggling to address their students' learning gaps as they regularly miss school. The rates of students who missed more than 10 percent of school days doubled between the school years of 2018–2019 and 2021–2022. 

Cultivating engagement and improving student attendance are common leadership challenges in the educational realm in 2024, which means there are already individuals and teams to learn from. One of the greatest opportunities for increasing student attendance is family engagement. As ASCA’s 2023 Principal of the Year put it, “No social media post, school-based parent communication messaging system, text or fancy newsletter will ever take the place of a face-to-face interaction.”

This doesn’t mean that technology is unimportant for increasing student engagement—digital solutions can be a meaningful part of the effort. But schools across the country are finding that taking steps such as intentional time each day for teachers to contact parents, a rule in which teachers call rather than email if the information is more than three sentences and having every available teacher outside during student dismissal are effective ways to increase schools relationships families, which have a direct positive impact on student attendance and achievement.

 

Raising Equity in Talent Pipelines 

Ask anyone in educational leadership what they are concerned about in their field, and you’ll likely hear the response, “teacher shortages.” The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reported that 86 percent of K–12 public schools cited challenges hiring teachers for the 2023–2024 school year. Additionally, 83 percent reported difficulty hiring non-teacher positions ranging from classroom aides to mental health professionals.

In an article for Forbes, CEO of the National Center on Education and the Economy Vicki Phillips points to several districts, programs and organizations that are addressing the shortages in creative ways that promote equity. For example, Women Leading Ed, a national network for education in leadership, provides resources for closing the gender gap in educational leadership. It aims to change the fact that while nearly eight in ten teachers are women, only three in ten ascend to the highest roles in school districts.

Educational leaders can participate in cultivating a diverse population of educators who reflect the demographics of student bodies by initiating mentorship relationships, initiating open dialogues about barriers to entry and partnering with organizations that provide leadership training for educators who want to advance their careers.

 

Revising Academic Assessments 

While letter grades and standardized tests may provide insight into student achievement, many educational leaders are calling for a reimagining of student assessment measures. While declining mathematics scores ring an alarm bell that prompts some to double down on traditional grading systems, innovative educators are finding that creative assessment approaches can foster greater academic success.

Many educational leaders find themselves limited by required state testing or assessment mandates. However, even these educators can apply creative assessment tools in their classrooms that generate positive feedback and increase student engagement throughout the school year. Rather than simply assessing student knowledge through texts, quizzes, or exams that mirror standardized approaches, educators can check in with student progress via: 

• Class discussions 
• Group projects 
• Presentations 
• Problem-solving activities 
• Structured debates 
• Written responses of various lengths 
• Graphic organizers 
• Digital, gamified assignments 

Assessments such as these may not replace standardized approaches, but they can accompany them. In so doing, they can reduce both student and teacher stress while infusing creativity and a love of learning into the classroom. 

 

Reimagining Mental Health Support

As educational leaders prepare for COVID-19 relief funds to expire in September 2024, some are concerned about losing mental health resources and staff members in their schools.

Educational leaders can look to many of their peers nationwide to find creative, cost-effective solutions for prioritizing mental health in their schools. The South River Public Schools district in central New Jersey, for example, experienced increased mental health issues and disciplinary issues post-pandemic. They decided to try a program called Restorative Community Service, in which struggling students engaged in meaningful activities that helped others, reinforced their participation in the school community and provided space for reflection.

In addition to introducing innovative programs, educational leaders advocate for dedicated government funding to build mental health infrastructures in their schools and communities. Others are considering how to promote teacher wellbeing so that classroom educators can continue to be safe, trusted adults in the lives of their students.

Rise to the Challenge with an online Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Organizational Innovation from Marymount University 

Whether you want to make a difference in your organization or community, an Online Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Organizational Innovation will empower you as a change agent ready to initiate and inspire.

This 100% online, flexible program includes courses such as: 

• Leading an Organization: Theory, Practice & Reflection 
• Ethical Leadership & Social Justice 
• Transformative Leadership: Leading Organization Change 

Prepare to meet challenges with creative, collaborative solutions as an educational leader. Connect with an enrollment advisor to get started.