The research literature on the principal shortage is inconsistent regarding the actual scope of the shortage and a clear articulation of factors contributing to the successful recruitment and retention of today’s school leaders. Often, critical data related to the principal shortage are ignored, including the number of younger principals overlooked in a candidate job search or the number of credentialed principal candidates who ultimately withdraw from a search. This study is based on a survey of 197 superintendents concerning their views on the principal shortage and factors associated with influencing the recruitment and retention of school leaders. Some major findings are that superintendents often underestimate the principal candidate applicant pool in their own districts, compensation continues to be the primary method of attracting qualified principal applicants, and rural schools are at a distinct disadvantage compared with urban and suburban schools in their search for new school principals.
This descriptive study used an online survey to determine how principals in two states viewed the supervision of marginal teachers. Principals ranked their own evaluation of the teacher as the most important factor when identifying marginal teachers and relied on informal methods to diagnose marginal teaching. Female principals rated a majority of supervisory methods and data sources as being more useful and the importance of formative assessments and teachers' self-reflection as significantly more important than did male principals. Female principals adopted a procedural style, while males identified with the situational style when working with marginal teachers..
Although the four-day school week originated in 1936, it was not widely implemented until 1973 when there was a need to conserve energy and reduce operating costs. This study investigated how achievement tests scores of schools with a four-day school week compared with schools with a traditional five-day school week. The study focused on student performance in Colorado where 62 school districts operated a four-day school week. The results of the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) were utilized to examine student performance in reading, writing, and mathematics in grades 3 through 10. While the mean test scores for five-day week schools exceeded those of four-day week schools in 11 of the 12 test comparisons, the differences were slight, with only one area revealing a statistically significant difference. This study concludes that decisions to change to the four-day week should be for reasons other than student academic performance.
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