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It was the purpose of this study to determine the present general status, thought, and practice of the elementary school principalship in Texas public school districts. More specifically, the problem was fourfold in nature: 1. To study the professional characteristics of the Texas elementary principal through an analysis of factors related to (1) his position, {2) his professional characteristics, and (3) his major responsibilities. 2. To evaluate certain aspects of the status, thought, and practice of the Texas elementary principal in light of what is considered most desirable in recent literature in the field to determine to what extent the Texas principal reflects the moat desirable characteristics. 3. To compare certain aspects of the present principalship with similar characteristics as found in previous studies of the Texas elementary principalship in order to determine trends. 4. To compare certain aspects of the Texas elementary principalship with the same aspects of the elementary principalship as described in a recent national study, in order to determine similarities and differences.

The problem of this study was to determine competencies which are necessary for effective administration by secondary school principals. The sources of data included a review of the literature and supplemental materials. The survey technique, employing a jury-validated questionnaire, was used to collect the perceptions of superintendents, principals, teachers, and college professors in the State of Texas. A total of 316 educators responded to the questionnaire. The development and findings of this study are presented in five chapters. Chapter I presents an introduction to the study. In Chapter II, a survey of the literature is reported. Chapter III contains details of the procedures employed in collecting data for the study. Chapter IV presents the data gathered through the use of the questionnaire. Chapter V presents the summary, findings, conclusions, and recommendations resulting from the study. The study identified eight general areas of competency for secondary school principals. Those competency areas were (1) organization and administration, (2) curriculum design and improvement, (3) the instructional process, (4) business and financial management, (5) student management, (6) personnel management, (7) facilities, equipment, and supplies, and (8) communications. A total of ninety-five competencies was identified from the literature and from communications with college professors and practicing school administrators. The six-member jury panel validated ninety-one competencies for inclusion on the survey questionnaire. Eighty-eight of the ninety-one competencies submitted to the educator sample achieved the criterion level for acceptance. An analysis of variance procedure revealed that significant differences among group means appeared at the .01 level on eleven of the competency statements. The competency-based preparation and certification concept appears to be sound and to be in harmony with other movements in American education. Many operational aspects need additional refinement; however, the concept holds considerable promise for improvement upon the traditional approaches to the preparation and certification of educators. The movement is widespread and is gaining momentum rapidly. Competency-based programs are in operation in colleges and universities in over half of the states. Certain competencies are common to the various educator roles. It appears possible to identify those common competencies and to establish them as a core of educator competencies at the state or university level. The cognitive and psychomotor learning domains are quite visible in operative programs. Competencies in the affective learning domain are poorly developed in most cases. The following recommendations resulted from the study: (1) attempts to establish sets of competencies should include input from a broad cross-section of the education profession in each phase of development and validation, (2) additional research should be conducted to more precisely define those affective variables necessary for educator success, (3) a set of core competencies which are common to the various educator roles should be identified and validated, and the demonstration of competence in these areas should become requisite for all educators seeking certification, (4) the variable of time should become a larger part of competency-based programs, and participants who demonstrate minimum acceptable competence should not be required to remain in attendance for predetermined periods of time, (5) operative competency-based programs should include provision for continuous evaluation and modification based upon evaluation findings, and (6) each educator preparation institution in Texas should design and operate a competency-based program to determine feasibility of the approach at that institution.

It aimed to unveil the practical knowledge shared by Chinese school principals in leading schools. This purpose derived from the specific context of Chinese school education and the international knowledge base of principalship. On the one hand, great importance has been attached to school principals with the implementation of educational reforms in China. The increasingly complex educational context calls for more comprehensive investigation into leadership practices of Chinese principals. On the other hand, few serious studies have delved into principal leadership practices in Chinese schools, compared with the substantial research conducted in Western societies. Thus, there is a need to conduct empirical research to explore the indigenous wisdom of Chinese school principals. / The general purpose consisted of three sub-purposes. First, it aimed to identify the core leadership practices of Chinese principals; second, to investigate how these practices are enacted; and, third, to discover the contextual factors that influence these practices. Accordingly, the study was guided by three broad research questions: (1) What are the core leadership practices of Chinese school principals? (2) How do Chinese principals enact the core leadership practices in schools? (3) Do certain contextual factors relate to these core leadership practices and their enactment? / The study adopted a mixed methods research approach, sequentially integrating a quantitative survey with qualitative interviews. The survey involved 572 practitioners working at secondary schools located in four cities in Mainland China. Valid data were analysed through statistical methods in SPSS 15.0 and LISREL 8.7. The interviews included six secondary school principals and fifteen other school members selected from the relevant focus groups. The qualitative data were analysed through three steps of coding (i.e. open coding, axial coding, and selective coding) in NVivo 8.7. Finally, findings from both methods were compared and combined. The integrated findings suggested that: Chinese school principals adopt six core leadership practices to perform their functions. These are: (1) setting direction (2) shaping school climate and core ideas. (3) developing people (4) managirig instruction and curriculum (5) managing administrative affairs (6) developing external relationships and resources These six interrelated core leadership practices could be grouped into three classifications in accordance with their essential functions. The relationships between the different classifications indicate the theoretical pattern of how the core leadership practices work in schools. Based on this understanding, three specific patterns characterise the enactment of these core leadership practices. (1) Chinese principals put emphasis on both student academic performance and holistic development. (2) Chinese principals adopt a differential pattern ofparticipative decision-making. (3) Chinese principals apply the core leadership practices in a hybrid way that integrates visionary, democratic, exemplary, human-oriented and authoritarian leadership behaviours. Three-levels of contextual factors relate to the core leadership practices of Chinese principals. These factors involve: (1) personal conditions: professional knowledge, perceptions, pursuits and experience and personal capability, values, ethics and personality; (2) internal school conditions: climate, resources and performance, functional units, other school members' conditions and views, and school type, size and location; (3) external context: district authority, administration system, central government's policies, academic pressure, social expectations, local environment, educational conceptions, and mainstream leadership style. Two integrative models are developed through pulling all the research variables together. These models demonstrate the interaction between the core leadership practices and the contextual factors. / These findings suggest the theoretical and practical implications of the study. / This study investigated the core leadership practices of Chinese school principals, how these practices are applied in schools and the contextual factors that relate to these core practices. / Hu, Rongkun. / Advisers: Allan Walker; Nai-kwai Leslie Lo. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-03, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 302-334). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese; appendixes 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4 also in Chinese.

This study looked at possible relationships which exist between three personal characteristics variables believed to be associated with effective leadership in elementary schools. The three variables were (1) Principal Vision, (2) Principal Interpersonal Orientation and, (3) Principal Personal Values. The relationship between selected teacher, principal and school demographic variables and teacher's perceptions of their principal's vision was also explored. Data were collected from 51 principals and 841 teachers in elementary schools from 10 school districts in the Portland, Salem and Vancouver metropolitan areas. Teachers were asked to score their perceptions of their principal's vision on the School Vision Inventory. The principal was also asked to complete the Mach V interpersonal orientation scale, the Profile of Life Values and, his/her predictions of teachers responses on the School Vision Inventory. Data were analyzed by using one or more of the following statistical tests: MANOVA; ANOVA; Chi-square; and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The major conclusions are: (1) principals perceived teachers to be less positive than they in fact were in their perceptions of the principal's ability to encourage others to make personal sacrifices to accomplish the principal's vision; (2) male teachers perceive that their principals include them more in the vision building process than do female teachers; (3) teachers younger than 26 were less positive in their perceptions of their principal's Internalization and tended to be less positive on other scales; (4) principals communicate their vision more effectively with those teachers who are in their first year with their current principal than any other group for vision exchange, sacrifice and total vision; (5) school and principal demographics have little impact on teacher perceptions of principal vision; (6) principals value being sensitive to the needs of others more than any of the other personal values and they value artistic expression the least; (7) with the exception of the Artistic values, male and female principals are relatively similar in their personal values; (8) principal vision and personal values are moderately related; and (9) the relationship of interpersonal orientation of the principal to teacher perceptions of principal vision is not statistically significant.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1983. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2001. / Bibliography: leaves 58-64.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1982.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1983.

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