Although the is little disagreement conquering the belief that principals have an impact on the lives of teachers and students, both the nature and degree of this effect continues to be open to debate. The relationship is complex and not easily subject to empirical verification. This article reviews the empirical literature on the relationship between the principal's role and school effectiveness during the period from 1980 to 1995. We specifically focus on the conceptual underpinnings of several theoretical models to study the role, the relationship between models and methods of investigation, an4 consequently, to what has been learned about the nature of the principal impact. We conclude by framing a possible research agenda for the next generation of studies on the effects of school administration.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Andrews, R , & Soder, R (1987). Principal instructional leadership and school achievement.Educational Leadership, 44, 9-11.
2.
Bamburg, J. , & Andrews, R. (1990). School goals, principals and achievement.School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 2(3), 175-191.
3.
Barr, R , & Dreeben, R (1983). How schools work. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
4.
Berman, P. , & McLaughlin, M. (1978). Implementation of educational innovations.Educational Forum, 40, 347-370.
5.
Biester, T. , Kruse, J., Beyer, F., & Heller, B. (1984, April). Effects of administrative leadership on student achievement.Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.
6.
Blank, R (1987). The role of the principal as leader: Analysis of variation in leadership in urban high schools.Journal of Educational Research, 82(2), 69-80.
7.
Bolman, L. , & Deal, T. (1992). Reframing organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
8.
Bossert, S. , Dwyer, D., Rowan, B., & Lee, G. (1982). The instructional management role of the principal.Educational Administration Quarterly, 18(3), 34-64.
9.
Boyan, N. (1988). Describing and explaining administrative behavior. In N. Boyan (Ed.), Handbook of research in educational administration. New York: Longman.
10.
Braughton, R. , & Riley, J. (1991). The relationship between principals' knowledge of reading processes and elementary school reading achievement. ERIC: ED341952.
11.
Brewer, D. (1993). Principals and student outcomes: Evidence from U.S. high schools.Economics of Education Review, 12(4), 281-292.
12.
Bridges, E. (1970). Administrative man: Origin or pawn in decision-making?Educational Administration Quarterly, 6(1), 7-25.
13.
Bridges, E. (1982). Research on the school administrator: The state-of-the-art, 1967-1980.Educational Administration Quarterly, 18(3), 12-33.
14.
Brookover, W. , & Lezotte, L. (1977). Changes in school characteristics coincident with changes in student achievement. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.
15.
Cantu, M. (1994).A study of principal instructional leadership behaviors manifested in successful and no successful urban elementary schools. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Texas, Austin.
16.
Cheng, Y C. (1991). Leadership style of principals and organizational process in secondary schools.Journal of Educational Administration, 29(2), 25-37.
17.
Cheng, Y. C. (1994). Principals' leadership as a critical factor for school performance: Evidence from multi-levels of primary schools.School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 5 (3), 299-317.
18.
Crawford, J. , Kimball, G., & Watson, P. (1985, March). Causal modeling of school effects on achievement.Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
19.
Davies, R. (1994). From cross-sectional to longitudinal analysis. In A. Dale &R Davies (Eds.), Analyzing social and political change: A case book of methods. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
20.
Duke, D. , & Canady, L. (1991). School policy. New York: McGraw-Hill.
21.
Dwyer, D. (1986). Understanding the principal's contribution to instruction.Peabody Journal of Education, 63(1), 3-18.
22.
Eberts, R , & Stone, J. (1988). Student achievement in public schools: Do principals make a difference?Economics of Education Review, 7(3), 291-299.
23.
Edington, E. , & Benedetto, R. (1988, April).Principal leadership styles and student achievement in small and rural schools of New Mexico.Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.
24.
Edmonds, R. (1979). Effective schools for the urban poor.Educational Leadership, 37, 15-24.
25.
Erickson, D. (1967). The school administrator.Review of Educational Research, 37(4), 417-432.
26.
Fullan, M. (1982). The meaning of educational change. New York: Teachers College Press.
27.
Glasman, N. (1983). Increased centrality of evaluation and the school principal.Administrator's Notebook, 30(1), 1-4.
28.
Glasman, N. (1984). Student achievement and the school principal.Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 6(3), 283-296.
29.
Glasman, N. , & Fuller, J. (1992). Assessing the decision-making patterns of school principals.The International Journal of Educational Management, 6(3), 2-30.
30.
Glasman, N. , & Heck, R (1992). The changing leadership role of the principal: Implications for principal assessmentPeabody Journal of Education, 68(1), 5-24.
31.
Goldring, E. (1990). Elementary school principals as boundary spanners: Their engagement with parents.Journal of Educational Administration, 28(1), 53-62.
32.
Goldring, E. , & Pasternak, R. (1994). Principals' coordinating strategies and school effectiveness.School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 5(3), 239-253.
33.
Hall, G. , Rutherford, W., & Griffin, T. (1982). Three change facilitator styles: Some indicators and a proposed frameworkR & D Reports, 3134, 1-4.
34.
Hallinger, P. (1992). Changing norms of principal leadership in the United States.Journal of Educational Administration, 30(3), 35-48.
35.
Hallinger, P. , Bickman, L., & Davis, K. (in press). School context, principal leadership and student achievement.Elementary School Journal.
36.
Hallinger, P. , & Heck, R. (in press). The principal's role in school effectiveness: An assessment of methodological and conceptual issues in research, 1980-1995. In K. Leithwood (Ed.), The international handbook of research on educational leadership and administration. New YorkKluwer.
37.
Hallinger, P. , & Murphy, J. (1985). Assessing the instructional management behavior of principals.Elementary School Journal, 86(2), 217-247.
38.
Hallinger, P. , &Murphy, J. (1986a). Instructional leadership in school contexts. In W Greenfield (Ed.), Instructional leadership: Concepts, issues and controversies. Lexington, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
39.
Hallinger, P. , & Murphy, J. (1986b). The social context of effective schools.Armenian Journal of Education, 94(3), 328-355.
40.
Heck, R. (1993). School context, principal leadership, and achievement: The case of secondary schools in Singapore.The Urban Review, 25(2), 151-166.
41.
Heck, R , Larson, T., & Marcoulides, G. (1990). Principal instructional leadership and school achievement: Validation of a causal model.Educational Administration Quarterly, 26, 94-125.
42.
Heck, R. & Marcoulides, G. (1992). Principal assessment: Conceptual problem, methodological problem, or both?Peabody Journal of Education, 68 (1), 124-144.
43.
Hunter, C. (1994). Los Angeles Unified School District Middle School principals' instructional leadership behaviors and academic achievement. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Pepperdine University, Los Angeles.
44.
Jackson, S. (1982, April). Instructional leadership behaviors that differentiate effective and ineffective low income urban schools.Paper presented at the convention of the International Reading Association, Chicago, IL.
45.
Jones, P. (1987). The relationship between principal behavior and student achievement in Canadian secondary schools. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Stanford University, Palo Alto.
46.
Krug, F. (1986). The relationship between the instructional management behavior of elementary school principals and student achievement. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of San Francisco, San Francisco.
47.
Leithwood, K. (1994). Leadership for school restructuring.Educational Administration Quarterly, 30(4), 498-518.
48.
Leithwood, K. , Begley, P., & Cousins, B. (1990). The nature, causes and consequences of principals' practices: An agenda for future research.Journal of Educational Administration, 28(4), 5-31.
49.
Leithwood, K. , Begley, P., & Cousins, B. (1992). Developing expert leaders for future schools. Bristol, PA: Falmer Press.
50.
Leithwood, K. , & Hallinger, P. (1993, Fall). Cognitive perspectives on educational administration: An introduction.Educational Administration Quarterly, 24(3), 296-301.
51.
Leithwood, K. , & Montgomery, D. (1982). The role of the elementary principal in program improvement.Review of Educational Research, 52(3), 309-339.
52.
Leitner, D. (1994). Do principals affect student outcomes? An organizational perspective.School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 5(3), 219-239.
53.
Marcoulides, G. , & Heck, R (1993). Organizational culture and performance: Proposing and testing a model.Organization Science, 4(2), 209-225.
54.
Miskel, C. (1982, April). An analysis of principal effects. Unpublished speech to the National Graduate Student Seminar in Educational Administration, Princeton, NJ.
55.
Murphy, J. (1988). Methodological, measurement and conceptual problems in the study of instructional leadership.Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 10(2), 17-139.
56.
Murphy, J. (1990). The reform of school administration: Pressures and calls for change. In J. Murphy (Ed.), The reform of American public education in the 1980s: Themes and cares (pp. 277-304). Berkeley, CA: McCutichan.
57.
Murphy, J. , Hallinger, P., & Mitman, A. (1983). Research on educational leadership: Issues to be addressed.Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 5(3), 297-305.
58.
Oakes, J. (1989). Detracking schools: Early lessons from the field.Phi Delta Kappan, 73(6), 448-454.
59.
O'Day, K. (1983). The relationship between principal and teacher perceptions of principal instructional management behavior and student achievement. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Northern Illinois University, Normal.
60.
Ogawa, R. , & Hart, A. (1985). The effect of principals on the instructional performance of schools.Journal of Educational Administration, 22(1), 59-72.
61.
Pedhazur, E. , & Schmelin, L (1991). Measurement, design, and analysis: An integrated approach. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
62.
Peters, S. , & Bagenstos, N. (1988, April). State mandated principal evaluation: A report on current practices.Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, IA.
63.
Pitner, N. (1988). The study of administrator effects and effectiveness. In N. Boyan (Ed.), Handbook of research in educational administration. New York: Longman.
64.
Ramey, M. , Hillman, L., & Matthews, T. (1982, March). School characteristics associated with instructional effectiveness.Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York
65.
Rowan, B. , & Denk, C. (1984). Management succession, school socioeconomic context and basic skills achievement.American Educational Research Journal, 21(3), 17-537.
66.
Rowan, B. , Dwyer, D., & Bossert, S. (1982). Methodological considerations in the study of effective principals.Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York.
67.
Rowan, B. , Raudenbush, S., & Kang, S. (1991). Organizational design in high schools: A multilevel analysis.American Journal of Education, 99(2), 238-266.
68.
Rutter, M. , Maughan, B., Mortimore, P., Ouston, J., &Smith, A. (1979). Fifteen thousand hours: Secondary schools and their effects on children. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
69.
Scott, C. , & Teddlie, C. (1987, April). Student, teacher, and principal academic expectations and attributed responsibility as predictors of student achievement: A causal modeling approach.Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Washington D.C.
70.
Silins, H. (1994). The relationship between transformational and transactional leadership and school improvement outcomes.School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 5(3), 272-298.
71.
Simon, H. (1964). On the concept of organizational goal.Administrative Science Quarterly, 1-22.
72.
Sirois, H. , &Villanova, R. (1982). Theory into practice: A theoretical and research base for the characteristics of effective schools.Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Americana Educational Research Association, New York
73.
Snyder, J. , & Ebmeier, H. (1992). Empirical linkages among principal behaviors and intermediate outcomes: Implications for principal evaluation.Peabody Journal of Education, 68(1), 5-107.
74.
Tatsuoka, M. & Silver, P. (1988). Quantitative methods in educational administration. In N. Boyan (ed.), The handbook of research in educational administration. New York: Longman, pp. 677-701.
75.
Teddlie, C. , Falkowski, C., Stringfield, S., Desselle, S., & Garvue, R. (1983, April). The study of principal and teacher inputs to student achievement.Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Canada.
76.
Thompson, J. (1968). Organizations in action. New York. McGraw-Hill.
77.
Thompson, J. , & McEwen, W. (1958). Organizational goals and environment: Goal-setting as an interaction process.American Sociological Review, 23, 23-31.
78.
Van de Grift, W. (1987). Zelfpercepties van onderwijsklndig leiderschap. In F J. Van der Krogt (Ed.). Schoolleiding en management (pp. 33-42). Lisse: Swets & Zeitdinger.
79.
Vande Grift, W. (1989). Self perceptions of educational leadership and mean pupil achievements. In D. Reynolds, B.P.M. Creemers, & T. Peters (Eds.), School effectiveness and improvement (pp. 227-242). Cardiff/Groningen: School of Education/RION.
80.
Van de Grift, W. (1990). Educational leadership and academic achievement in elementary education.School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 1(3), 26-40.
81.
Villanova, R. , Gauthier, W., Procto. P., & Shoemaker, J. (1981). The Connecticut school effectiveness questionnaire. Hartford, CIT: Bureau of School Improvement, Connecticut State Department of Education.
82.
Weil, M. , Marshalek, B., Mitman, A., Murphy, J., Hallinger, P., & Pruyn, J. (1984, April). Effective and typical schools: How different are they?Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
83.
Wimpelberg, R. , Teddlie, C., & Stringfield, S. (1989). Sensitivityto context: The past and future of effective schools research.Educational Administration Quarterly, 25, 82-105.
