Managing Education Programs: A Micro-behavioral Analysis

Abstract

DUCATION MANAGERS-school principals and proE gram directors-are as important to the well-being of the education enterprise as are teachers and students. Policymakers expect the managers to maintain established programs and implement new ones. Analysts and evaluators find that the school principal or program manager is a key figure in the success o r failure of innovations.' Superintendents, teachers, and parents all expect the principal to provide leadership at the school building level. Particularly in a time of declining enrollments, when every dollar in the school budget must be stretched, the school manager is a key figure in producing and maintaining a high quality education program. Yet, in comparison with students and teachers, education managers have not been the subject of a great deal of behavioral research. Gross and Herriott (1964) investigated opinions about the professional leadership of elementary school principals. Cuban (1977) analyzed the impact of urban school superintendents on their districts. Cohen and March (1974) investigated the careers and impact of college presidents on their institutions. Analysts whose primary interest is innovations o r classroom practices acknowledge the importance of , but d o not directly document, the impact of the education manager (for example, Herman et al. 1975; Smith and Keith 1971; Gross et al. 1971). With the exception of Wolcott's (1973) ethnographic study of an elementary school principal, there is little empirically based knowledge of school manager behavior. Expanding our empirically based knowledge of school manager behavior can serve several useful purposes. First, it is commonly asserted that school managers influence teacher and student behavior. Only by understanding what school managers actually do is it possible to determine how that influence occurs. Second, policymakers from school superintendents to the U.S. Commissioner of Education rely on school managers as key figures in any effort a t educational reform. Understanding common patterns of school manager behavior can assist policymakers in identifying both appropriate and inappropriate strategies for intervening in that