Historically, principals served as disciplinarians and the teachers' boss. Under current federal legislation, principals now must accept the responsibility to manage personnel, funds, and strategic planning. Today's principals also must accept responsibilities associated with being their schools' instructional leaders. As instructional leaders, principals maintain the responsibility for the learning of all students, including students with disabilities. This role becomes magnified in rural school systems that typically experience high rates of special education teacher attrition and educate a large percentage of students with disabilities. For these reasons, today's principal preparation programs need to reconsider and reconstruct philosophies and practices. In this article, the author discusses principals'contemporary responsibilities and provides suggestions for principal preparation programs to better prepare principals for today's roles and responsibilities of being the instructional leaders for students with disabilities.
Acker-Hocevar,M., & Cruz-Janzen,M. (2008). Teacher and principal preparation programs: Reforms that sustain high performance and learning in high poverty and diverse schools.International Journal of Learning,14(10), 87-95.
2.
Angelle,P., & Bilton,L.M. (2009). Confronting the unknown: Principal preparation training in issues related to special education.AASA Journal of Scholarship & Practice,5(4), 5-9.
3.
Billingsley,B.S. (2005). Cultivating and keeping committed special education teachers: What principals and district leaders can do. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
4.
Boscardin,M.L. (2005). The administrative role in transforming secondary schools to support inclusive evidence-based practicesAmerican Secondary Education,33, 21-32.
5.
Brown,P.F. (2006). Preparing principals for today's demands.Phi Delta Kappan,87(7), 525-526.
6.
Collins,B.C., Hawkins,S., Keramidas,C.G., McLaren,E.M., Schuster,J.W., Slevin,B.N., & Spoelker,D.L. (2005). The effect of No Child Left Behind on rural students with low incidence disabilities.Rural Special Education Quarterly,24(1), 48-53.
7.
Colvin,G. (2007). Seven steps for developing a proactive schoolwide discipline plan: A guide for principals and leadership teams. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
8.
Cooner,D., Tochterman,S., & Garrison-Wade,D. (2005). Preparing principals for leadership in special education: Applying ISLLC standards.Connections: Journal of Principal Preparation and Development,6, 19-24.
9.
Courtade,G.R., Servilio,K., Ludlow,B.L., & Anderson,K. (2010). Highly qualified teacher requirements for special educators: Perceptions of West Virginia stakeholders.Rural Special Education Quarterly,29(3), 37-49.
10.
Cruzeiro,P.A., & Morgan,R.L. (2006). The rural principal's role with consideration for special education.Education,126(3), 569-579.
11.
Davidson,D.N., & Algozzine,B. (2002). Administrators' perceptions of special education law.Journal of Special Education Leadership,15(2), 43-48.
12.
Davis,W.E. (1980). An analysis of principal's formal training in special education.Education,101(1), 89-94.
13.
Delaney,E.M. (2001). The administrator's role in making inclusion work.Young Children,56(5), 66-70.
14.
DiPaola,M., Tschannen-Moran,M., & Walther-Thomas,C. (2004). School principals and special education: Creating the context for academic success.Focus on Exceptional Children,37(1), 1-10.
15.
DiPaola,M., & Walther-Thomas,C. (2003). Principals and special education: The critical role of school leaders (COPPSE document no. Ib-7). Gainsville: University of Florida, Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education.
16.
Furney,K.S., Aiken,J., Hasazi,S., & Clark/Keefe,K. (2005). Meeting the needs of all students: Contributions of effective school leaders.Journal of School Leadership,15(5), 546-570.
17.
Garrison-Wade,D., Sobel,D., & Fulmer,C.L. (2007). Inclusive leadership: Preparing principals for the role that awaits them.Educational Leadership & Administration,19, 117-132.
18.
Gentilluci,J.L., & Muto,C.C. (2007). Principals' influence on academic achievement: The student perspective.NASSP Bulletin,91(3), 219-236.
19.
Herrington,C.D., & Wills,B.K. (2005). Decertifying the principalship: The politics of administrator preparation in Florida.Educational Policy,19(1), 181-200.
20.
Hess,F.M., & Kelly,A.P. (2007). Learning to lead: What gets taught in principal-preparation programs.Teachers College Record,109(1), 244-274.
21.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 (2004)
22.
Lasky,B., & Karge,B.D. (2006). Meeting the needs of students with disabilities: Experience and confidence of principals.NASSP Bulletin,90(1), 19-36.
23.
Leithwood,K., Louis,K.S., Anderson,S., & Wahlstrom,K. (2004). How leadership influences student learning. New York, NY: Wallace Foundation.
24.
Leko,M.M., & Smith,S.W. (2010). Retaining beginning special educators: What should administrators know and do?Intervention in School and Clinic,45(5), 321-325.
25.
Lynch,J.M. (2011). Instructional leadership for students with disabilities: Principals' perceptions of their role. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Special Education, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV.
26.
Martin,B.N., Johnson,J.A., Ireland,H., & Claxton,K. (2003). Perceptions of teachers on inclusion in four rural midwest school districts.Rural Educator,24(3), 3-10.
27.
McHatton,P.A., Boyer,N.R., Shaunessy,E., & Terry,P.M. (2010). Principals' perceptions of preparation and practice in gifted and special education content: Are we doing enough?Journal of Research on Leadership Education,5(1), 1-22.
28.
McLeskey,J., Tyler,N.C., & Saunders-Flippin,S. (2004). The supply of and demand for special education teachers: A review of research regarding the chronic shortage of special education teachers.Journal of Special Education,38(1), 5-21.
29.
Mills,B.D. (1974). A survey of the elementary school principalship in West Virginia (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV.
30.
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 107-110, 115 Stat. 1425 (2002).
31.
Patterson,J., Marshall,C., & Bowling,D. (2000). Are principals prepared to manage special education dilemmas?NASSP Bulletin,84(613), 9-20.
32.
Porter,A.C., Murphy,J., Goldring,E., Elliott,S.E., Polikoff,M.S., and May,H. (2008). Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education: Technical Manual, Version 1.0, Vanderbilt University.
33.
Portin,B. (2004). The roles that principals play.Educational Leadership,61(7), 14-18.
34.
Praisner,C.L. (2003). Attitudes of elementary school principals toward the inclusion of students with disabilities.Exceptional Children,69(2), 135-145.
35.
Provost,J., Boscardin,M.L., & Wells,C. (2010). Perceptions of principal leadership behaviors in Massachusetts in the era of education reform.Journal of School Leadership,20(5), 532-560.
36.
Schlichte,J., Yssel,N., & Merbler,J. (2005). Pathways to burnout: Case studies in teacher asolation and alienation.Preventing School Failure,50(1), 35-40.
37.
Searby,L.J. (2010). Preparing future principals: Facilitating the development of a mentoring mindset through graduate coursework.Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning,18(1), 5-22.
38.
Short,C., & Martin,B.N. (2005). Case study: Attitudes of rural high school students and teachers regarding inclusion.Rural Educator,27(1), 1-10.
39.
Styron,R.A.Jr., & LeMire,S.D. (2009). Principal preparation programs: Perceptions of high school principals.Journal of College Teaching & Learning,6(6), 51-62.
40.
Supovitz,J., Sirinides,P., & May,H. (2010). How principals and peers influence teaching and learning.Educational Administration Quarterly,46(1), 31-56.
United States Department of Education. (2006). 28th annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2006. Volume2. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/osep/2006/parts-b-c/28th-vol-1.pdf.
43.
United States Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development (2010). A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.
Zaretsky,L., Moreau,L., & Faircloth,S. (2008). Voices from the field: School leadership in special education.Alberta Journal of Educational Research,54(2), 161-177.
