Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 1991-5
Preparing Tomorrow's Educational Leaders: An Inquiry regarding the Wisdom of Utilizing the Position of Assistant Principal as an Internship or Apprenticeship to Prepare Future Principals
For as long as the position has existed, the assistant principalship has been viewed as the logical and proper avenue to prepare aspiring leaders to be principals. In that sense, the position is seen as an apprenticeship or internship experience.
This article questions the wisdom of this assumption and suggests that the assistant principalship is poorly defined and structured; highly unsatisfactory for many, if not most, participants seeking to become a principal; and, perhaps, is actually quite disfunctional as a preparation activity.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AustinD.1972. “The Assistant Principal-What Does He Do?”Theory Into Practice11:68–72.
2.
AustinD., and BrownH.1970. Report of the Assistant Principals hip. Vol. 3: The Study of the Secondary School Principals hip.Washington, DC: National Association of Secondary School Principals.
3.
AustinD., FrenchW., and HullJ.1962. American High School Administration: Policy and Practice.New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
4.
BaltzellD., and DentlerR.1983. Selecting American School Principals: A Sourcebook for Educators.Cambridge, MA: Abt Associates.
5.
BarrattT.1955. “Assistant Principals,”American School Boards Journal, 130: 56.
6.
BoardmanC., GranJ., and HoltA.1946. “The Duties and Responsibilities of the Assistant Principal in the Secondary School,” NASSPBulletin, 30: 3–11.
7.
BlackA.1980. “Clarifying the Role of the Assistant Principal,”NASSP Bulletin (May): 33–39.
8.
BoldenH.1956. “Attitudes of High School Assistant Principals toward Their Duties and Responsibilities,” NASSPBulletin, 40: 20–25.
9.
BordingerD.1973. “The Challenge of the Assistant Principalship,” NASSPBulletin, 57: 10–15.
10.
BrandesL.1956. “The Position of the Subordinate Administrator in the Secondary School,” NASSPBulletin, 40: 46–52.
11.
BridgesE.1965. “Bureaucratic Role and Socialization: The Influence of Experience on the Elementary Principal,”Education Administration Quarterly, 1: 19–28.
12.
BrownG., and RentschlerJ.1973. “Why Don't Assistant Principals Get the Principalship?” NASSPBulletin, 64: 14–18.
13.
ChildressJ.1973. “The Challenge of the Assistant Principalship,” NASSPBulletin, 64: 14–18.
14.
ClementsZ.1980. “Enriching the Role of the Assistant Principal,”NASSP Bulletin, May: 14–19.
15.
DavisE., and MooreJ.1965. “The Assistant Principal in the Junior High School,” NASSPBulletin, 49: 1–4.
16.
EdmondsR., and FredericksenJ.1979. Search for Effective Schools: The Identification and Analysis of City Schools That Are Instruction-Effective for Poor Children. ERIC no. ED 170 396 Cambridge, MA: Center for Urban Studies, Harvard University.
17.
GarawskiR.1978. “The Assistant Principal: His Job Satisfaction and Organizational Potency,”Clearing House, 52: 8–10.
18.
GortonR.1987. “Improving the Assistant Principalship—The Principal's Contribution,” NASSPBulletin, 71: 1–4.
19.
GreenfieldW.1985. “Studies of the Assistant Principalship,”Education and Urban Society, 18: 7–25.
20.
GreenfieldW.1977. “Administrative Candidacy: A Process of New Role Learning, Part II,”Journal of Educational Administration, 15: 170–193.
21.
GreenfieldW.1977. Administrative Candidacy: A Process of New Role Learning, Part I,”Journal of Educational Administration, 15: 30–48.
22.
GriffithsD., StoutR., and ForsythP.1988. Leaders For America's Schools.San Francisco: McCutchon.
23.
HessF.1985. The Socialization of the Assistant Principal from the Perspective of the Local School District,”Education and Urban Society, 18: 93–106.
24.
HowleyP.1985. “The Assistant Principalship-Speculations Offered,” NASSPBulletin, 69: 88–89.
25.
HurwitzH.1957. “A Day in the Life of an Administrative Assistant,”High Points, 39: 23–25.
26.
IannacconeL.1985. “Vice-Principal Research: A Window on the Building,”Education and Urban Society, 18: 121–129.
27.
JarrettR.1958. “The Activities of the Assistant Principal in Secondary Schools,” NASSPBulletin, 42: 28–32.
28.
KellyG.1987. “The Assistant Principalship as a Training Ground for the Principalship,” NASSPBulletin, 71: 13–20.
29.
KindsvatterR., and TosiD.1971. “Assistant Principal: A Job in Limbo,”Clearing House, 45: 456–464.
30.
KriekardJ., and NortonM.1980. “Using the Competency Approach to Define the Assistant Principalship,”NASSP Bulletin, May: 1–8.
31.
LaugheryW.1959. “Experience or Vision in the Assignment of Assistant Principals’ Duties,” NASSPBulletin, 43: 112–114.
32.
LeuderD.1989. “One Hundred Top Small District Executive Educators: Their Personalities and Leadership Styles,”Journal of Rural and Small Schools, 4, 1: 36–43.
33.
LongC.1957. “Duties of Secondary-School Vice-Principals, NASSPBulletin, 41: 26–37.
34.
MarshallC.1985a. “Professional Shock,”Education and Urban Society, 18: 28–58.
35.
MarshallC.1985b. “Facing Fundamental Dilemmas in Education Systems,”Education and Urban Society, 18: 131–134.
36.
MarshallC., and GreenfieldW.1985. “The Socialization of the Assistant Principal,”Education and Urban Society, 18: 3–6.
37.
MartinE.1958. “A Profile of Women as Secondary School Vice-Principals,” NASSPBulletin, 42: 77–83.
National Policy Board for Education Administration.1989. Improving the Preparation of School Administrators: An Agenda for Reform.Charlottesville, VA: NPB at the University of Virginia.
40.
NortonM., and KriekardJ.1987. “Real and Ideal Competencies for the Assistant Principal,” NASSPBulletin, 71: 23–29.
41.
PetersonK., MarshallC., and GrierT.1987. “The Assistant Principal's Academy: Technical Training and Socialization of Future Leaders,”NASSP Bulletin (October): 32–38.
42.
ReedD., and ConnersD.1982. “The Vice-Principalship in Urban High Schools: A Field Study,”Urban Education, 16(4): 465–81.
43.
ReedD., and HimmlerA.1985. “The Work of the Secondary Assistant Principalship,”Education and Urban Society, 18: 59–83.
44.
ReavisW., and WoellnerR.1928. “The Time and the Personnel Available for Administrative Duties in Secondary Schools,”School Review, 36: 576–592.
45.
RodrickL.1986. “Working With Assistant Principals to Achieve Maximum Value,”NASSP Bulletin (February): 91–93.
46.
ShankerA.1990. “The End of the Traditional Model of Schooling-And a Proposal for Using Incentives to Restructure Our Public Schools,”Phi Delta Kappan, 71(5): 345–357.
47.
SergiovanniT.1987. The PrincipalshipNewton, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
48.
SmerkaT.1980. “A modus operandi for the Assistant Principal,” NASSPBulletin, 71: 9–12.
49.
SmithJ.1987. “Assistant Principals: New Demands, New Demands, New Realities, and New Perspectives,”NASSP Bulletin (October): 9–12.
50.
SpadyW.1985. “The Vice-Principal as an Agent of Instructional Reform,”Education and Urban Society, 18: 107–120.
51.
SpragueN.1973. “Involving the Assistant Principal on the Administrative Team,”NASSP Bulletin, 57: 28–35.
52.
ThomsonS.1988. “The Principalship: Ingredients of Programs to Prepare Effective Leaders,” NASSPBulletin, 72: 39–46.
53.
ValentineJ.1980. “Preparing Your Assistant for the Principalship,” NASSPBulletin, 64: 40–43.
54.
ValverdeL.1974. Successful Socialization: Its Influences on School Administration Candidates and Its Implication to the Exclusion of Minorities from Administration.Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Education Project 3–0813.
55.
Van EmanC.1926. “Functions of the Assistant High School Principal and Other Assistant Executives,”Educational Research Bulletin, 5: 148–150.
56.
WaxR.1977. “The Warrier Dropouts,” in Educational Organization and Administration.EriksonD., ed. Berkeley, CA: McCutchon.
57.
WellsP., NelsonR., and JohnsenE.1965. “The Assistant Secondary School Principal,” NASSPBulletin, 49: 15–22.
58.
WolcottH.1973. The Man in the Principal's Office: An Ethnography.New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
59.
WrightW.1939. “Educational and Vocational Histories of Vice or Assistant Principals in Senior High Schools,”School and Society, 49: 553–556.
