%0 Journal Article %A Brendan Bartanen %A Jason A. Grissom %T School Principal Race, Teacher Racial Diversity, and Student Achievement %D 2023 %R 10.3368/jhr.58.4.0218-9328R2 %J Journal of Human Resources %P 666-712 %V 58 %N 2 %X 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 this effect largely operates through avenues other than the racial composition of the teaching staff. %U https://jhr.uwpress.org/content/wpjhr/58/2/666.full.pdf