CHAPTER 8 - The Role of the Principal in School Improvement

Abstract

Evidence that principals play a critical role in school improvement is considerable and mounting rapidly. The success of efforts to assist principals in becoming more effective are significantly dependent on knowledge of manageable steps principals may take in their own development. This chapter focuses on what exceptionally effective principals do and what constitutes growth in principal effectiveness. It discusses the development and validation of the principal profile that is described in detail in Leithwood and Montgomery. The profile is a multidimensional, multilevel, detailed description of principals' beliefs, intentions and actions, all of which are subsequently referred to as behaviors. The identification of important behaviors involved the selection of categories or dimensions of principal behavior that would be meaningful to practicing principals and permit description of those aspects of behavior most likely to account for differences in principal effectiveness. Three methods were used to develop a description of highly effective principal behavior: (1) the structured application of professional judgment, (2) collection of original opinion data, and (3) systematic integration of extant research results. The chapter describes four levels of growth in principal effectiveness within four dimensions of behavior: (1) principals' goals, (2) factors in the school and classroom that principals try to influence to achieve their goals, (3) actions or strategies principals employ to exercise such influence, and (4) the nature of principals' decision-making ability concerning each of these other dimensions. The levels of effectiveness within these dimensions are labeled the systematic problem solver, program manager, humanitarian, and administrator.