A STUDY OF BEHAVIORS, COMPETENCIES AND IN-SERVICE EDUCATION NEEDS OF PRINCIPALS AS PERCEIVED BY PRINCIPALS, CENTRAL OFFICE STAFF AND TEACHERS

The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of central office staff, principals and teachers in Independent School District 196, Rosemount, Minnesota about the importance and present level of behavior and competence of principals in the district and to identify where significant differences in perception occurred. A secondary purpose was to identify the in-service education needs of principals in the district. The fourteen principals in the district, the five central office staff members who supervised the principals and the 434 full-time teachers in the district composed the population for the study. Participation was voluntary for all groups. The fourteen principals and a representative sample of 178 teachers completed and returned the survey instrument. Principal\u27s Competency Questionnaire. Five central office staff completed survey instruments on a specified number of principals. A variety of statistical methods were used to analyze the between-group differences and discrpancy analysis, together with repeated measures of analysis of variance, were used to identify in-service needs of principals. Findings. (1) There were few significant differences in perception between respondent groups about the importance of behaviors and competencies for the principals but larger significant differences in perception between respondent groups about the present level of behaviors and competencies of principals. (2) Six behaviors (Judgment, Organizational Ability, Leadership, Sensitivity, Stress Tolerance and Oral Communication Skill) and seven competencies in three competency areas (School-Community Relations, Student Counseling and Gudance and Research and Develoment Techniques) were identified for inclusion in an in-service education program for principals of the school district. (3) There were large differences in discrepancy scores between respondent groups for six behaviors, forty-eight competencies and six competency areas, indicating that there was no agreement among respondent groups that these behaviors and competencies should be included in an in-service program for principals of the school district. (4) Various behaviors and competencies of principals related to the more routine administrative responsibilities were perceived as being performed at an adequate level by the respondent groups and thus were not recommended for inclusion in an in-service program for principals of the school district. Conclusions. (1) There was more congruence among the respondent groups in terms of the importance assigned to behaviors and competencies than to the perceived level of principals\u27 performance for each behavior and competency. (2) Teachers\u27 perceptions of the behavior and competence of principals were lower than those of principals and central office staff. (3) The behaviors and competencies which were perceived as being performed adequately dealt with the more routine adminstrative requirements. (4) The behaviors which were identified in the study to be included in an in-service education program for principals related to facilitative, interactive and interpersonal behaviors. For competencies and competency areas, in-service needs were related to developing school-community relations and research techniques. (5) There was quite a large difference in perceptions between respondent groups related to the extent to which principals involved teaching staff in running the schools of the district