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Poor matriculation results in South African urban schools have resulted in the implementation of professional development programs for principals who wish to improve their qualifications and practice. This article studies principals’ perceptions of the efficacy of using portfolios to assess their professional growth. Using a poststructural lens to theorize portfolio use, interview data were examined to discern what themes consistently evolved when principals were engaged in self-evaluating their own professional practice through a methodological framework of portfolio development. The findings revealed insights into the efficacy of the use of professional portfolios in the professional development of principals.

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The National Norms and Standards for School Funding policy was adopted by the government to address equity in South African public schools. This pro-poor funding policy compels the state to progressively fund schools based on a quintile ranking system. Schools lacking in infrastructure, physical and financial resources and usually located within poor socio-economic environments are ranked quintiles 1 and 2. These schools are referred to as no-fee schools and are provided with far more state funding than well-resourced schools, ranked quintiles 4 and 5. More recently, quintile 3 schools, serving middle-of-the-range communities, have also been declared no-fee schools. Most of the school governing bodies and principals serving no-fee schools experience numerous challenges in effectively managing their schools’ funds. Using a quantitative research approach, the study aimed to determine the views of teachers and school management team members of how no-fee schools manage the funds received from the state and other fundraising initiatives. The findings revealed that governing bodies of no-fee schools lacked the necessary financial and entrepreneurial skills and, therefore, experienced great difficulty in preparing budgets and cash flow projection statements that could enable them to effectively manage the schools’ funds.