Several models for improving school effectiveness are now available, and most of them highlight the principal's leadership role. Unfortunately, administrators do not regularly reflect on the important aspects of their professional roles or analyze the factors that may make it difficult for them to implement given models of effectiveness in their…

Using ethnographic research tools, this study explored the role that the symbolic action of administrators played in the the social construction of reality. Case study data were provided to illustrate meaning management at the school district level. Framing this analysis is the application of the categories of critical theory to the study of…

Recent research has indicated the principal's significance in effective schools. Despite the principal's crucial role in school success, little valid information exists concerning Kentucky principals and their job perceptions. This paper attempts to provide an authoritative database regarding Kentucky principals. The Kentucky Administrator's…

Given that principals play a role in setting school climate, this paper focuses on how this actually happens. First, the paper explores different criteria and variables as possible frameworks for defining the term "climate." This task is complicated by problems in identifying consensus findings due to weak variable definitions and lack…

In 1980, the environment of Eastfield College was characterized by declining enrollments, reduced funding, staff unrest, and low morale. In response to a collegewide need, Eastfield's Quality of Life project, originally designed to increase community participation, was transformed to focus on participatory organizational renewal. The renewal…

This paper was part of a symposium focusing on the role of educational administrators in school-based research. The author states that the role of research for the school administrator should be to support decision-making, both in providing a rational basis on which decisions can be made and in helping administrators feel confident their decisions…

Three related studies sought to determine the overall job satisfaction of secondary school principals and the extent to which such satisfaction is affected by the collective bargaining process. One study was designed to illuminate the current role of principals in teacher-district collective bargaining in Pennsylvania and the relationship between…

A review of the literature on managerial responsibilities in the collective bargaining process in the public schools yields two hypotheses. The first is that the degree of conflict in public school bargaining is related to the role and level of participation on the management bargaining team of the superintendent, the principal, and the assistant…

Using a "management opinionnaire," researchers surveyed 164 local school superintendents in the state of Mississippi to determine their preferred styles of leadership. The questionnaire requested demographic information and measured the superintendents' degree of accordance with 27 statements concerning the role of an administrator.…

Using ethnographic data, this study explores the behavior of urban principals at work. The event analysis summary (appended) was based on Mintzberg's classification of on-the-job characteristics and role behavior and then modified to reflect the data obtained. "Key incidents" rather than case studies serve as the basis for organizing descriptive…

Four perspectives of the changing role of the college presidency, given at the 1973 Summer Council of Presidents of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, are presented in this report. Various issues are discussed including the role of the president, educational finance, coordination, and governance. (MJM)

This paper discusses the ambiguity which characterizes the role of the reading consultant in the public school. Instead of assuming the quasi-administrative role which is traditional, the consultant should be made a special administrator with power equal to that of the building prinicpal; he or she should fully understand the forces operating…

Presents overview of four discussion groups' reactions to Tischler's "Critical Issue Paper 2: Meeting Patient Needs in the 1990's." Summarizes recommendations concerning system challenges and the administrator's role, administrator training, technical assistance, and research needs. (ABL)

In Taiwan's universities and colleges, the engineering department is a significant asset to higher education programs, and the department chair is expected to play multiple roles and take on many responsibilities. In order to know these roles and responsibilities better, 4 roles and 29 responsibilities were identified and constructed into a…

Of more importance than any lofty concept of the principal's leadership are crucial, mundane, support functions--which can be carried out by supervisors and teachers as well as by principals. (Author)