Emily Johnson, a new high school assistant principal, ponders how to handle an unexpected dilemma over the faculty award nomination procedures. As chair of the faculty awards committee, she has to decide how to handle the arrival of late nominations. They were submitted by a committee member Jack Fitch, who had been a candidate for the assistant…

The assistant principal of a Catholic elementary school carries out some of the duties (with the needed authority) of the school principal. How tasks and authority are delegated vary and depend upon the personality of each individual school. Fifteen assistant principals wrote essays relating one of their chief responsibilities to show a wide…

Results of a study in Baltimore (Maryland) to determine how assistant principals and their superiors view the assistant principalship. Results indicate a need for better time management and development of a school system policy. (Author/LD)

Describes benefits of a leadership team consisting of co-principals and an assistant principal at two elementary schools in Mansfield, Massachusetts, the goal of which is to reduce time devoted to management and increase time devoted to instructional activities. (PKP)

The principal shortage means that many educators, including assistant principals and resource teachers, are moving into the job with little training. Mentor and apprenticeship relationships can aid leadership development. Exemplary leaders' highest calling is to build leadership in others--exemplified in Santa Cruz's Growing Our Own" program.…

Describes the Teaching Assistant Principal program, developed by the Capistrano (California) Unified School District to identify, attract, and develop candidates for assistant-principal positions. Also describes the components of district principal-retention and development programs. (PKP)

By emphasizing practical technology applications, a Fairfax County (Virginia) school won national recognition. The principal built a model technology center by utilizing an assistant principal's expertise, developing teacher training via voluntary summer sessions and inservice programs, hiring a full-time technology advisor, and securing adequate…

To retain an exemplary dean of students with heavy caregiving responsibilities, a Poughkeepsie, New York, high school adopted a plan to split her job responsibilities with an educational administration student beginning his career. Job-sharing success hinged on strong cooperation among the district, the individual administrators, and local…

This article details the work of Sally Lancaster of Everett Public Schools in Washington. Sally Lancaster may be an educator by training, but she knows the value of libraries. As assistant principal of Alternative Programs for the Everett Public Schools, Lancaster led a statewide battle that not only saved the criteria for school libraries in the…

The principalship, as it is currently structured, makes the best teacher educators avoid formal leadership roles. Fewer and fewer leaders aspire to that level of leadership, causing a shortage of qualified principal applicants, particularly at the high school level. Even among assistant principals, managerial challenges drown out the appeal of…

The role of the principal in a Catholic elementary/middle school has changed and expanded dramatically over the last decade. The role and tasks of principals in larger schools are essentially the same as the job descriptions of administrators in schools of less than 100 students. Principals in both large and small schools must complete reports,…

All educators are very concerned about the tremendous need for new principals. Different strategies are in place to fill vacancies in the principalship. Principals can be developed from the existing ranks of educators, hired from outside the field, or through a combination of both. To meet their immediate needs, however, most school districts want…

Principals and assistant principals find themselves in a variety of situations in which listening can be their most important activity. In this article, the author shares his experience that highlighted how important listening can be. He also discusses empathic listening, a kind of listening that "involves a paradox of control" in which the…

In this talk, a principal and assistant principal take turns relating personal day-to-day experiences as partners in a management team in a way that shows why they favor shared leadership with assignment of responsibilities based on strengths and needs rather than on tradition. Besides relating anecdotes, the authors question the effectiveness of…

This study of 2,300 secondary school administrators in the U.S. Office of Education (District VI) suggests that assistant principals are more powerless and have a higher level of alienation than do principals. Moreover, promotion to principal is no longer ensured, as assistant principals are routinely assigned to student discipline and other…