The principals' center movement: New paradigms in leadership training
Abstract
This study explored a new paradigm of training in educational administration called the principals' center movement. The current climate of school reform and research on effective schools served as a backdrop to this subject. A Principals' Center Questionnaire (PCQ) was designed and mailed to all organizations listed in the National Directory of Principals' Centers. In addition, case studies of three diverse principals' centers were undertaken. The combination of the quantitative data extracted from the PCQ, in conjunction with the qualitative information from the case studies, gave a wholeness to the study. The results indicated that principals' centers were idiosyncratic in nature and diverse in the number of things that they did. Despite that, a great number of characteristics were shared by the majority of centers. Most claimed to exist for the purpose of providing professional growth opportunities for their clients. They were conceptualized from the expressed needs of their participants. Activities were modeled on successful attempts cited in the literature on school reform and observed at centers such as the Harvard Principals' Center. The anticipated outcomes for participants, as perceived by the centers' directors, were to make school administrators more effective and improve their morale. It was also found that the directors of the principals' centers were the most important players in the success of each individual center and often in its very survival. Principals' centers are definitely worth attention by individuals who might be capable of lending financial and logistical support, particularly if they are interested in school improvement.
Subject Area
School administration|Teacher education
Recommended Citation
DeJesus, Candido Agustin, "The principals' center movement: New paradigms in leadership training" (1991). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI9136319.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI9136319
