Date of Award

Spring 5-1-2008

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Robert Boyd

Second Advisor

Gregory R. Ulm

Third Advisor

Richard Cochren

Abstract

This study determined what the most important qualities and characteristics Indiana public school superintendents take into consideration when interviewing and selecting an effective principal for their school districts. The study also examined if the superintendent's demographic information influenced the decisions of the superintendents in regards to the importance of selected criteria. 111 A questionnaire was developed by the author and sent to each of the 292 Indiana public school superintendents asking them to rank the selection criteria for each of the four sections on the questionnaire, Background, Management, Human Relations, and Instruction. In addition, demographic variables of size of the superintendent's school district and number of years of experience as superintendent were included in the questionnaire to determine if these demographic variables influenced the priority of rankings of the selection criteria for choosing an elementary or secondary principal. A total of 21 7 surveys were analyzed for descriptive statistics and significant differences among the demographic variables. This quantitative study sought answers to the following research question: \Vhat qualities and characteristics in a candidate do superintendents seek when selecting a principal and are there significant differences in the qualities and characteristics of principal candidates based upon the following demographic variables: IV 1. Type of district (metropolitan, suburban, town, or rural) from which the responding superintendent reported 2. Type of assignment (secondary or elementary) 3. Number of years served as superintendent. Although some significant differences were found after completing the analyses, none were determined to represent important differences among the levels for type of district, type of assignment, or years served as superintendent. As a result of the descriptive analyses of the study, the following qualities and characteristics were determined to be extremely important by the responding superintendents: 1) the ability to listen to others; 2) the ability to work with staff; 3) commitment to student excellence; 4) ability to work with others; and 5) possession of an administrative license. The following qualities were ranked at the bottom of the 51-question survey: 1) candidate's gender; 2) candidate's race; 3) having teaching experience not at the level of hiring (secondary or elementary); 4) previous administrative experience within the district; and 5) employee from within the district.

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