Principal's information-processing mechanisms (PIPMs) as an effective tool for learning-centered leadership that reduces teacher's intent to leave

Retaining experienced, competent teachers is an ever-growing challenge for school leadership. Principals' ability to implement school improvements and affect change, such as ensuring teacher retention, is dependent, among other factors, on their knowledge regarding and sensitivity to organizational and environmental activities and changes. We here explore the relationship between principal's information processing mechanisms (PIPMs), a school-level variable, and teacher's intent to leave, an individual-level variable. We conducted a survey of 101 principals and 1130 teachers from 101 randomly selected elementary schools in Israel. Our multi-level structural equation modeling revealed a good fit between the model and the data. With controlling for principal seniority and teacher tenure, the relationship between PIPMs and teacher's intent to leave is significant and negative, highlighting PIPMs' role as a contributing factor to principals' ability to curb teacher's intent to leave.