Date of Award
1992
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Curriculum, Instruction, and Media Technology
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the level of congruence among the perceptions of elementary classroom teachers, elementary school principals, public school superintendents, and school board presidents in Indiana regarding what competencies are essential to enable an elementary principal to be an effective educational leader. Further, this study sought to determine the level of agreement among the groups as to the competencies that were considered the most important. In addition to the review of the literature concerning contemporary leadership theory and effective schools research, the author reviewed the administrator assessment programs from seventeen states. This information was combined with the research from the National Association of Elementary School Principals to develop the questionnaire. A survey of a random sample of each of the groups gathered quantitative data regarding the perceptions of the respondents to the importance of each skill within the ten competency areas. A total of 475 responses was received. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The groups rated nine of the competencies (leadership, communication, management of group processes, development and implementation of curriculum, supervision of instruction, supervision of performance, evaluation, administrative functions, fiscal management) as important to crucial to the effectiveness of an elementary principal as an educational leader. The political arena was identified as the least important competency. The respondents rated these skills as helpful to important for effectiveness. The data supported the importance of the elementary principal's position in the change process and in the area of accountability. The groups were uniform in their perceptions of the importance of summative evaluation, but teachers and board presidents did not feel the formative process was as important as did the school administrators. This alignment of the perceptions of teachers with board presidents and principals with superintendents was consistent throughout the study.
Recommended Citation
Riggs, William J., "The Effective Elementary Principal: Perceptions Of The Essential Skills Of Educational Leadership" (1992). All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2105.
https://scholars.indianastate.edu/etds/2105
