The impact of elementary school principals on student learning

The purpose of this dissertation was to understand better the nature of the elementary principal's job. Using a case study analysis, the study focused on the job of the principal and how his actions impact either directly or indirectly on student learning. Direct impact can occur when the principal interacts with students by teaching a lesson or by interceding with a behavior problem which is interfering with learning. Indirect impacts can occur when the principal impacts on the teaching-learning process through the changes he causes in the school's instructional environment or through his interaction with others including the school's staff and parents.;A case study was designed to record the job activities of an elementary school principal. Information was collected about the activities in which the principal was engaged. Record keeping included over 2,157 hours of self-observation spanning 257 days during three years from November 1982 through December 1985 in two suburban schools in the Chicago suburban area. A total of 2,422 of the principal's activities were recorded along with characteristics of each of these activities including day of the week, date, their duration, location, communication mode and activity initiator.;The work units were recorded into a computer record where it was summarized by eighty columns of numbers. This numerical information was analyzed in a mainframe computer.;Analyses showed that the principal spent over forty percent of his time on resource activities. Ninety percent of this time focused on human resource activities. About thirty-three percent of his time involved activities focused on goals and standards for the school and students and activities used in designing the school's learning environment. Activities involving student behavior and parent/community relations each consumed eleven percent of the principal's time. Direct instruction of students accounted for one percent.;A conceptual framework of the principal's activities was designed to conceptualize how a principal's activities are linked to student learning. This framework demonstrated the need of principals to establish task priorities in order to facilitate instruction.;Forty-six percent of the principal's time was spent in the office and seventeen percent in the classroom. Eighty percent of the principal's time was spent in face-to-face communication. Thirteen percent was written and five percent on the telephone. The principal initiated sixty-six percent of his activities. Activities did not vary significantly from day to day; however, there was activity variance shown during the different periods of the school year.;In summary, principals can impact on student learning through proactive job decisions although most of the impact is indirect. A principal's job actions need to be guided by the impact they will have on student learning.