Principal perceptions of the subject area curriculum coordinator

In an educational atmosphere of diminished resources, school districts must make more efficient use of the personnel employed in their service. One critical personnel asset available to many school districts is the Subject Area Curriculum Coordinator (SACC), whose role and responsibilities in districts are ambiguous and therefore misunderstood by school principals. In Massachusetts this role confusion is attributable to the conflicting imperatives of federal and state education reform initiatives that place SACCs and principals in opposition to each other relative to the accomplishment of those imperatives. Since Massachusetts principals are charged with responsibility for site based personnel and curricular decisions, an examination of their perception of the SACC role can help both site and district leaders make more efficient and effective use of that resource. To clarify the role of this critical but poorly used resource, this study focused on principals’ perceptions of the SACC role guided by the following question: What supports do principals at each level require from the SACC that will help them provide leadership in curriculum and instruction to the site?;The sample, drawn from the population of Massachusetts public school principals, was generated using a pre-screening process to determine those school districts in Massachusetts employing at least one district-wide SACC. This consisted of direct telephone contact with each of the approximately 350 public school districts in Massachusetts to determine whether they employed at least one full time district-wide SACC. The results revealed that of those 350 public school districts approximately 105 employ district-wide SACCs. Stratified random sampling techniques were employed to determine the levels within the sample that were subject to the survey. Within each of those 105 school districts one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school were selected, from among the schools within the district, to receive the survey. In larger districts proportional stratified random sampling methods were employed to generate data from multiple schools within a particular level. Principals of the schools selected through the sampling method described above became the survey subjects and served as the sample for the study. In this way, 315 principals received mailed surveys. 90 surveys were returned, thus ensuring a 30% response rate.;Analysis of principals’ responses to the survey, using One-Way ANOVA and Chi-Square Tests of Independence, identified that elementary principals, and principals newer to the profession, are significantly less satisfied with SACC support than their higher level and more veteran peers. Analysis also revealed that principals: (1) want more collaboration with SACCs (2) want more contact with their SACCs than they have (3) want more support for understanding state frameworks (4) want more support from SACCs in areas of professional development, supporting teachers’ pedagogic needs and content area support (5) want SACCs to assume more, not less, responsibility for the operations at the school site (6) do not recognize SACCs as important participants in the establishment of goals at the district level (7) do not receive enough support from ELA and Math SACCs (8) prioritize state and federal initiatives over local priorities (9) overwhelmingly want to share curriculum/instruction decision making with SACCs (10) report that ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies SACCs are most helpful in articulating district initiatives and least helpful in supporting principals’ initiatives and providing curricular leadership.;In light of these findings, districts should conduct a personnel inventory to assess the support systems available to principals in the district and to gauge their relative effectiveness. In addition, districts should assess conditions now that might warrant decreasing supports elsewhere in favor of enhancing curricular supports in the form of SACCs, or in reevaluating job descriptions to ensure that the supports intended for principals are being received by them. Principals want more content support, more professional development support, more pedagogic support, more mentoring of teachers, more modeling, more shared evaluative authority, and more shared authority concerning personnel.;Principals perceive the SACC as a potentially valuable resource that is inefficiently utilized. In the face of diminished resources it must be reevaluated in the context of principal support to allocate that resource more productively. The significance of this study lies in the reevaluation and redefinition of the SACC as a viable actual resource.