Principals' Role Perceptions and the Perceived Effectiveness of Their Administration Preparation: A Summary Paper.

The purposes of this study were threefold: (1) to identify school principals' perceptions of their occupational responsibilities and the academic preparation needed for those responsibilities; (2) to determine significant relationships between perceptions of preparation and perceptions of difficulty; and (3) to identify significant differences among the preceptions of groups of principals categorized on the basis of: level of school at which principals were employed, number of students enrolled in the school, years of service, highest degree attained, sex, and race. A total of 500 principals listed in "The Georgia Public Education Directory of State and Local Schools and Staff" were selected randomly for participation in the study. Data were gathered with the "Principals' Perceptions of the Principalship" instrument, a measure consisting of nine items soliciting background information, 20 items concerning role perception and preparation for the roles, one item requesting that participants identify the three role variables that consume the most time, and two open-ended questions eliciting comments related to administrative preparation. In contrast to research indicating that administrative preparation in graduate courses is of little value, findings indicate that principals generally feel adequately prepared for most role activities. This perception of preparation is highly correlated with their perceptions of role difficulty. Many perceptions were found to differ according to background variables. (RH)