Technology leadership of elementary principals: Standards, competencies, and integration

Literature regarding the principal's role in the success or failure of instructional programs suggests the necessity of the involvement and leadership of the skilled principal. Technology expenditures have rapidly increased in federal, state, and local education budgets. The consideration of the principal's role in the implementation of the technology program is the subject of current discourse.;Recently, technology standards for administrators have been developed by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), and other professional organizations. The Technology Standards for School Administrators (TSSA), published by ISTE, suggests role specific technology standards for the principal. Additional literature in the administrative technology area suggests certain technology skills and competencies possessed by principals are beneficial to the technology program. Educational consortia and professional organizations such as the Milken Exchange for Technology and Education have published guidelines and gauges for determining and measuring technology integration.;How does the principal's role determine the success or failure of technology implementation and integration? To what extent do elementary principals relate to leadership technology standards in their professional practice? What skills and technology competencies are important to principals? How do principals integrate technology into the educational environment?;A research instrument consisting of twenty-nine questions was developed to answer the preceding questions through an interview process. Eight elementary public school principals were randomly selected from non-repetitive district factor groupings (DFG).;Using the data derived from the interviews and research from current literature, a fourteen point conceptual framework was constructed to analyze the data from three different perspectives: the extent to which elementary principals relate to current technology standards; the technology skills and competencies of the principals, and; the means by which elementary principals integrate technology into the educational environment.;The study concluded that elementary principals relate to technology standards to a considerable extent. Also, technologically proficient principals have an advantage in maintaining both the technological and human condition with respect to the technology program, and technologically proficient principals are able to integrate technology with a greater degree of technological specificity.