Research Paper on:
Leadership of a High School Principal

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
While the statement was made in reference to restructuring efforts, it is nonetheless true in terms of whether the school is effective or not. Knowing this, there has been  a disturbing phenomenon occurring in the last several years: administrators are flocking away from the high school. There are any number of good reasons for capable administrators to avoid taking  positions in high schools. A study in 1997 revealed the following reasons: * ? ???Time -- for most, a 60-80 hour week. * * ???* ???Workload and complexity of job. *  * ???* ???Supervision of evening activities "unending." * * ???* ???Minimal pay differential between top teacher and administrator. * * ???* ???Feeling "bombarded" with very high expectations of constituents and employer. * * ???* ???State  and district mandates; "mountains" of paperwork. * * ???* ???Increasingly complex society with attendant social problems. * * ???* ???Traditional vice principal job is seen as negative * * ???* ???Difficulty in helping  secondary teachers become more collaborative (Yerkes and Guaglianone, 1998). Given the complexity and multiple diverse demands of this position, how can the principal be effective? The following pages  will discuss some of the literature about what makes a principal effective at the high school level. The Principals Role The role of principal has always been  complex. Sergiovanni identified nine tasks of the principal: * ? ???Purposing: bringing shared visions together. * * ???* ???Maintaining harmony: building mutual understanding. * * ???* ???Institutionalizing values: devising a set of procedures and  structures to actualize the schools vision. * * ???* ???Motivating: encouraging staff and faculty. * * ???* ???Managing: planning, record-keeping, providing procedures; organizing, etc. * * ???* ???Explaining: giving reasons for asking staff to do certain  things. * * ???* ???Enabling: removing obstacles that prevent faculty and staff from meeting their objectives; providing needed resources. * * ???* ???Modeling: being responsible for modeling the schools purpose. * * ???* ???Supervising: ensuring the