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The elementary school principalship: An historical evolution
Abstract
The Principalship has received increased attention since the 1983 report, A Nation At Risk: The Imperative For Educational Reform and the 1986 Carnegie report, A Nation Prepared: Teachers For The Twenty-First Century. These reports challenged the Principal to become a strong, effective leader for school reform. The challenge called for the Principal to become a change agent, to affect the culture and climate of a school, to empower others, and to motivate staff and students. Emphasis on leadership suggests the potential of this position. The Principalship has not always been a position of leadership. The evolution of the Principalship is traced from the first system of public education documented in the United States, in Massachusetts, in the mid-seventeenth century to its growth into the twentieth century. During the twentieth century, the Principalship sustained itself through World War I, the Depression, World War II, the radical sixties and seventies, and through the reform minded eighties and nineties. The evolutionary stages, School Master, Head Teacher, Teaching Principal, Building Principal and Supervising Principal set the stage for present curriculum supervision, vision maker, "building based management", and climate and culture caretaker. The Principalship did not develop by any plan, rather it emerged in response to population growth, grading, and administrative requirements. The Principalship's evolution is cited from primary source materials, a survey and interview of Principals, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, and leading educators. It is projected that the role of the Principalship in the twenty-first century will be influenced by the commitment of citizenry for public education, preparatory programs offered by universities and principal organizations, potential of the individuals who will become principals, and the reform efforts undertaken toward excellence in public education.
Subject Area
School administration|Elementary education|Education history
Recommended Citation
Weiss, Roseli Sandra, "The elementary school principalship: An historical evolution" (1992). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9233175.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9233175