Principal Preparedness: Superintendent Perceptions of New Principals

Abstract

National advocacy groups have undertaken significant efforts to define the performance capacities needed by principals to lead schools in this era of continuous improvement and accountability. There has been little articulation between the core skills essential to new principals and the leadership capacities of experienced peers. This study focused on the needs of new principals as noted by superintendents. This study posed an open-ended question to superintendents asking for a list of challenges observed in newly hired school principals. Superintendents identified three discrete areas of deficit: experience with and understanding of the range of demands faced by principals, understanding differentiated instructional practices and best practices, and functional use of personnel management strategies.