Examining the role of the assistant principal: Role orientation, task assignment and upward mobility of the public secondary school assistant principal

This study focuses on the role of the assistant principal in charge of discipline. The tasks assigned to an assistant principal are varied and are made at the discretion of the principal. Since some tasks enhance socialization by offering greater opportunities for exposure to superiors, peers, and subordinates, provide frequent reviews, allow for expansion of knowledge, and are conducive to involvement of extraordinary projects, it is necessary that the impact and implications of the various tasks are understood by the school system, principal and assistant principal. This research was guided by two questions: (1) What are the activities of the assistant principal in charge of discipline? (2) Do these activities provide the assistant principal with the opportunities necessary to enhance successful socialization and upward mobility? This study was conducted in urban, suburban, and rural school districts using four subjects who represented a mix of race and gender. The field study methodology was used which included open-ended and structured interviews and participant observation. This investigation was part of a larger study in which data from twenty case studies was shared among three researchers. As a result of this study the role orientations toward an administrative career led to the development of a typology of the assistant principal which included the upwardly mobile, career, plateaued, and shafted assistant principal as well as the assistant principal considering leaving. In addition, four styles of assistant principal in charge of discipline were discovered and specifically labelled Sergeant-Beat Cop, Sergeant-Juvenile Aid Officer, Solomon and Socrates. An analysis of the data found that the task of discipline affords an assistant principal the opportunities to be successfully socialized. However, the degree to which he is socialized may be affected by the style which he assumes while performing the activities inherent in that task. This study has implications for the responsibilities of the school system in the identification, training and selection of the assistant principal and helping in preparation for his future career. Moreover, this study clearly shows that the assistant principal has the power to make the necessary adjustments which will influence his upward mobility