PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Bartanen, Brendan AU - Grissom, Jason A. TI - School Principal Race, Teacher Racial Diversity, and Student Achievement AID - 10.3368/jhr.58.4.0218-9328R2 DP - 2021 Feb 10 TA - Journal of Human Resources PG - 0218-9328R2 4099 - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2021/02/03/jhr.58.4.0218-9328R2.short 4100 - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2021/02/03/jhr.58.4.0218-9328R2.full AB - Exploiting variation from principal and teacher transitions over long administrative data panels from Missouri and Tennessee, we estimate the effects of principal race on the racial composition of a school’s teachers. Evidence from the two states is strikingly similar. Principals increase the proportion of same-race teachers in the school by 1.9–2.3 percentage points, on average. Both increased hiring and increased retention of same-race teachers explain this compositional change. Further, leveraging longitudinal student-level data from Tennessee, we find that having a same-race principal improves math achievement but that this effect largely operates through avenues other than the racial composition of the teaching staff.