Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between school directors and school principals can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a school director and a school principal. Additionally, a school principal has an average salary of $97,138, which is higher than the $68,563 average annual salary of a school director.
The top three skills for a school director include professional development, K-12 and curriculum development. The most important skills for a school principal are professional development, curriculum development, and student achievement.
| School Director | School Principal | |
| Yearly salary | $68,563 | $97,138 |
| Hourly rate | $32.96 | $46.70 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 37,761 | 60,093 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A school director oversees educational programs, ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently. They typically gather and analyze data, review reports, monitor faculty staff's performance and the progress of all teaching methods, and resolve issues should any arise. They usually work together with the teaching staff to research and develop educational curricula and programs, participate in hiring educators, and supervise staff. Moreover, a school director leads and encourages the workforce to reach goals while implementing the school's policies and regulations, developing new ones when necessary.
A School Principal supervises and directs education and teaching programs within a school. They develop and implement policies, programs, curriculum activities, budgets, and more.
School directors and school principals have different pay scales, as shown below.
| School Director | School Principal | |
| Average salary | $68,563 | $97,138 |
| Salary range | Between $46,000 And $100,000 | Between $71,000 And $131,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Rafael, CA | Newark, NJ |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Learning Care Group | Lexington School and Center for the Deaf |
| Best paying industry | Education | Non Profits |
There are a few differences between a school director and a school principal in terms of educational background:
| School Director | School Principal | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Business | Educational Leadership |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between school directors' and school principals' demographics:
| School Director | School Principal | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 36.4% Female, 63.6% | Male, 44.6% Female, 55.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 13.7% Asian, 4.3% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 4.4% White, 64.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 16% | 16% |