2012 UCEA Convention

Learning Leader or Simply a Survivor? The Principal’s Challenges Leading a Newly Consolidated High School. Donald Gene Hackmann, University of Illinois; Lance Eric Thurman, Olympia (IL) Community Unit School District 16
This case study examined the principal’s effectiveness in serving as learning leader of a newly merged high school. Interviews and observations of the principal and Building Leadership Team were conducted, and Board and faculty meeting agendas were reviewed. Findings indicated that the principal was consumed with organizational and managerial issues, focusing on student discipline, developing the school culture, and learning the district’s new school management software, which restricted her ability to focus on student learning.

Measuring Professional Practice: A Study of an Alternative School Leader in Action. Tara Shepperson, Eastern Kentucky University; Gregory O’Bryan, Eastern Kentucky University
This study analyzed the activities of an alternative school principal concurrently through a validated observation instrument and qualitative observation techniques. The results offer a rich description of the principal’s daily activities and provided insight into limitations of prescriptive evaluation suggesting that alternative school leader dutie ranged outside of those listed on the instrument.

What Effective Principals Do: Longitudinal Evidence from School Leader Observations. Jason Grissom, Vanderbilt University; Susanna Loeb, Stanford University
Studies of principal time use typically have either been case-based or relied on survey-based measures, which may sacrifice depth and accuracy to increase scale. In contrast, this paper reports on longitudinal data on principal time allocation collected via in-person observations in approximately 100 schools in Miami-Dade County. Pairing observations with rich administrative data, we empirically link principal time allocation to a variety of school outcomes, including student performance, controlling for school contextual variables.