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The Society for the Advancement of Excellence in Education provides non-partisan education research and information to policy-makers, education partners and the public. Our purpose is to encourage higher performance throughout Canada's public education system.
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The Leadership Challenge
Helen Raham, Spring 2003
There is plenty of evidence to affirm that good principals make a very great difference. Many researchers have found school leadership to have strong direct and indirect influences on learning. Gonzales et al. (2002) identified over 60 studies of the principal's impact on student achievement. Teddlie & Reynold's (2000) compendium of international research on school effectiveness and improvement states that leadership is "centrally synonymous with school effectiveness."
The International Confederation of Principals recently examined the job description of principals in many different countries, and identified the following common elements:
♦ To accept the fundamental responsibility for the quality of the learning which forms the educational foundation for all the young people in their community.
♦ To develop, nurture and maintain excellent relationships with the students, staff, parent community and other providers within the wider school context.
♦ To be accountable for the quality and effectiveness of the teaching and learning programs in the school.
♦ To create and maintain a learning environment that values the academic, vocational, spiritual and broad developmental needs of all their students, and to integrate these characteristics in a holistic way.
♦ To maintain a positively oriented and physically safe learning environment, which encourages and values the contribution of all people who work, teach and learn within it.
♦ To use effective processes to establish strategic directions and set realistic goals for their organizations (Flockton, 2001).
From these it can be seen that the role of the principal has become enormously complex. New responsibilities have been layered over traditional ones, with leadership and management tasks often competing for the principal's time and energy.
Today's principals are expected to be instructional leaders, having in-depth knowledge of curriculum and assessment, instruction and planning, how to organize the school for productive learning and support staff development. They must exercise collaborative leadership, developing in others a commitment to the learning goals and the capacity to take responsibility for achieving them. As managers, principals must understand management of mission, strategic planning, accountability processes, the alignment of resources to support instructional goals, and acquire expertise in project-based accounting, information management systems, and human resources.
Unique Challenges of the Role
You are the principal, the person who is being asked to produce great improvements in student achievement. You cannot select your staff. You cannot fire anyone who is already on your staff. You cannot award or withhold a bonus from anyone. Seniority rights for teachers mean that overnight you can lose people you have made an enormous investment in, replaced by people who couldn't care less about your agenda. You may have little control over the instructional materials being used. Someone else controls the training agenda. Someone else controls all but a small amount of how your budget is spent.1
In noting these realities, this recent international review of school leadership also points out that principals must deal with organizational goals that are outside their control, are constantly shifting, often competing, and difficult to measure. Principals must supervise employees with abnormally high levels of autonomy and rely on the commitment of others to produce results for which they will be held responsible.
Today's principals are expected to work effectively with diverse stakeholders to implement significant reforms amidst political realities, fiscal restraints, labour unrest, competing agendas, and turbulent social change. They must provide strong yet shared leadership, efficient yet democratic decisions, and comply with policy directives while generating commitment to those policies.
Principals may not close their doors to the larger system. They are required to interact with a broad range of community and social agencies on behalf of their students while regulations have become increasingly restrictive and time-consuming, and the environment increasing litigious.
The intensity of change, complexity of the role, level of remuneration, status of the profession, legal constraints, and impact on family life are now seen as negative features of the principalship. The average reported workweek ranges between 62 and 55 hours. The increased workload can be attributed to a wide range of factors including societal changes and pressures, more diverse and challenging student populations, increased accountability and reporting requirements, and the necessity to share authority. Role overload characterizes the job, yet on an hourly basis, principals earn less than many of the teachers they supervise.
These realities have been captured in recent surveys in many jurisdictions. A survey of 100,000 US principals (Barth, 1990) indicated the top reasons for leaving the job were excessive time demands, stress, and heavy workload. A 2001 survey by the National Association of Secondary School Principals revealed time (70%) and paperwork (69%) were the greatest sources of dissatisfaction, with 28% reporting burnout. Insufficient compensation in relation to responsibilities was reported by 60% of National Association of Elementary principals surveyed in 1998.
A survey for the Ontario Principals' Council (Williams, 2001) found the top dissatisfiers to be inadequacy of time to plan for provincially mandated changes, number of curriculum changes, insufficient time to work with students, lack of support staff, and the amount of time the job requires. UK headteachers report concerns about the de-motivating consequences of too many administrative and paperwork demands on their time (Earley, 2002). A survey of 108 Queensland principals found that 85% felt high pressure in their role (Cranston, 2002), and two other Australian studies (Boyle, 2000; Knight 2000) identified increasing expectations and heightened workload as primary areas of concern.
Policy Implications
What must be done to support principal effectiveness today and ensure an adequate future supply of quality school leaders? The international literature suggests that policymakers consider the following:
♦ Standards of Practice Clearly articulated standards and a set of competencies and indicators for each should undergird principal training, professional development, evaluation and compensation.
♦ Preparation and Training The most successful programs lead to certification and licensure and are systematically organized around the knowledge, skills and abilities in the professional standards. They include practical experience closely linked to the needs of schools and districts.
♦ Continuous Learning Quality professional development is aligned with professional standards and geared to support all stages of the principal's career. Districts have a primary role in designing programs to meet local leadership needs, including induction and mentorship.
♦ Performance Management Quality feedback on performance involves cycles of goal-setting, guided professional development, and opportunities for self, peer, and formal external evaluation. Some performance management systems include incentives based upon attainment of targets.
♦ Support Structures Can the position be re-configured to reduce role overload? How could system structures support the principalship and ensure authority and remuneration is commensurate with responsibility?
1 Tucker, Mark & Codding, eds. July (2002). The Principal Challenge. Jossey-Bass. Sacramento. P. 6.
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