The Assistant Principal in the Junior High School

Abstract

ARLY SECONDARY SCHOOLS in the United States, relatively small and administratively uncomplicated as they were, did not require full-time administrators. As increasing numbers of pupils went on to secondary school and as schools grew in size and function, a distinct need for full-time administrators-first the principal and then the assistant principal-developed.While there is a degree of agreement about the responsibilities of the principal, the assistant principalship in our secondary schools has evolved without an adequate sense of direction or underlying philosophy. The assistant principal's duties and responsibilities have developed, not from adequate planning, but from various duties too often delegated on the basis of expedience rather than sound principles of organization and personnel administration.A few years ago, the assistant principal was closely associated with clerical chores, with emphasis on such tasks as checking roll books and stamping textbooks.' Sometimes the assistant principal was considered solely a disciplinarian. His techniques reflected, in the main, facets of authoritarian, inspectorial, or paternalistic supervision. Today, the picture has changed radically in many ways. The assistant principal now has duties in organization, administration, and supervision.