Research Paper on:
School Principal's Changing Roles

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
courage of a firefighter, craft knowledge of a surgeon, political savvy of a senator, toughness of a soldier, listening skills of a blind man, humility of a saint, collaborative skills  of an entrepreneur, certitude of a civil rights activist, charisma of a stage performer, and patience of Job. Salary lower than you might expect. Credential required. For application materials, contact  . . .(Copland, 2001). Copland intended to exaggerate and parody the expectations for the school principal in todays educational system but, as he said, even this intended exaggeration  is not all that far off the mark of what is expected of principals today .(Copland, 2001). Twenty-five years ago, the roles of all educators were clear and understood  by everyone. School principals were responsible for running the school and that included supervising and evaluating the faculty and perhaps other staff members. The role of the principal began changing,  though. The principal became the "instructional leader" and things became muddy and murky. The dramatic changes in the principals roles have had the result of driving principals out of the  business - by the droves. Consider this header in a 2001 article: "Stress Driving Principals Out of Their Jobs" (School Administrator, 2001). One study found that between 1988 and 1998,  42 percent of all the elementary school principals in the United States left their jobs (School Administrator, 2001). Yes, certainly many retired but many others left education altogether. Judy Costa,  an elementary school principal in Rhode Island summed it up this way: " Fifteen years ago, we looked at the principal as a manager. Keeping order in the school was  a major role and took all of our time. Now we are asking principals to bring reform into our schools. I dont know how we can meet those expectations" (School