0.1 Babo, g.(february 2009) principal evaluation and leadership  (Page 8/9)

(*m = percentage of missing responses)

The results outlined in Table 1 suggest that safety, child advocacy, strategic planning, ethical behavior, collaboration, trust building, nurturing learning and instruction, sustaining high expectations, maintaining and sustaining family relationships and understanding the legal aspects of decision making are the primary essential elements that need to be adequately addressed by suburban building principals in the State of New Jersey in order to be considered successful by their respective CSAs.

This is a daunting list to be sure, however, an immediately more workable list of criteria than might be previously anticipated. Undeniably, all of the new functions for the ISLLC 2008 Standards are essential for the success of every educational community, but identification and prioritizing what could be considered the most essential is important for the continued development and success of every new and young principal (Crow, 2006; Davis&Hensley, 2000; Waters&Kingston, 2005).

Conclusions

The list of prioritized ISLLC functions in Table 1 suggests that current New Jersey suburban CSAs might rank order the ISLLC Standard’s footprints in the following manner:

1. An educational leader should promote the success of every student by ensuring management of the organization, operation, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment (Standard III).
2. An educational leader should promote the success of every student by understanding, responding to, and influencing the political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context (Standard VI).
3. An educational leader should promote the success of every student by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by all stakeholders (Standard I).
4. An educational leader should promote the success of every student by acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner (Standard V).
5. An educational leader should promote the success of every student by advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning and staff professional growth (Standard II).
6. An educational leader should promote the success of every student by collaborating with faculty and community members, responding to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources (Standard IV).

This prioritized ranking of the ISLLC Standard footprints based on each standard’s ranking of essential functions is an interesting point of departure from the current discussion in the field, which implies that a principal’s primary focus should be on classroom instruction. ISLLC Standard II, which directly responds to this responsibility, is rated fifth out of a list of six. This is an unusual circumstance considering current thought in this age of student achievement and accountability as it relates to the principal as an instructional leader (Quinn, 2002).

When one looks at this ranking in a holistic sense one sees a theme that emerges where, not surprisingly, student wellness and advocacy are the priority. This has been a time honored tradition and expectation of the principalship since its inception. Second to these time-honored responsibilities is the principal’s ability to set a clear vision and path for everyone in the educational community and to act in an ethical manner. The role of instructional leader and collegial facilitator are ranked surprisingly at the bottom of this list. This is not to imply that these functions are not important elements associated with the principalship but possibly not as important to current suburban CSAs as one might be led to think based on current thought in the field.