Teacher evaluation conducted by school principals is a common worldwide practice. However, there are many reservations about principals' ability to evaluate teachers reliably. Reservations appearing in the literature include inflated ratings, minimal discrimination of teacher quality, and evaluations influenced by factors irrelevant to teacher…

The study reported in this article is based on a pilot investigation of the principal's role in Greece and Cyprus. The authors asked newly appointed principals about (1) the nature of the role; and (2) the factors that contribute to or militate against effective enactment of the role. By gathering this information and comparing it against similar…