The chemical laundry guide; a work designed to teach ladies the art of laundrying clothes according to chemical principals [!] and the superior methods employed by city laundries; containing a full and explicit treatise on linen polishing, and the skillful washing and renovation of articles of every material. Over three hundred laundry methods.

Mode of access: Internet.

Brewer's annual national directory of superintendents of schools, state normal principals, state superintendents of public instruction

Mode of access: Internet.

Systematizing the work of school principals for elementary and secondary school and junior college executives and their assistants,

Mode of access: Internet.

Yearbook of the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Title varies slightly.

Principals' and teachers' perceptions of learning disabilities: A study from Nara Prefecture, Japan

In this study, perceptions of learning disabilities were obtained from 128 principals and 123 teachers in the Nara Prefecture, Japan. A factor analysis indicated that five factors underlie perceptions of learning disabilities: changes in the family and social situation, insufficient knowledge of and support for learning disabilities, teachers' abilities and professional development, teachers' situation and governmental issues. Teachers' situation was perceived to be the main factor, whereas the least important factor was governmental issues. Teachers mainly indicated agreement on the factor of insufficient knowledge of and support for students with learning disabilities. Principals were more aware of governmental issues than teachers.

Promoting Learning for Sustainability: Principals' Perceptions of the Role of Outdoor and Environmental Education Centres

Outdoor and Environmental Education Centres provide programs that are designed to address a range of environmental education aims, and contribute broadly to student learning for sustainability. This paper examines the roles such Centres can play, and how they might contribute to the Australian Government’s initiative in relation to sustainable schools. Interviews with the principals of 23 such Centres in Queensland revealed three roles or models under which they operate: the destination model; the expert/advisor model; and the partnership model. Principals’ understandings of these roles are discussed and the factors that support or hinder their implementation are identified. It is concluded that while the provision of programs in the environment is still a vital role of outdoor and environmental education centres, these can also be seen as a point of entry to long-term partnerships with whole school communities.

Voices of lay principals: Promoting a Catholic character and culture in schools in an era of change

This paper reports a qualitative study of the practice of leadership in Catholic schools to ascertain the perceptions of lay principals, who as positional leaders play a critical role in embracing and creatively rebuilding the Catholic vision of life within the reality that the Catholic school principalship is now a ministry of the laity. The methodology included semi-structured interviews, field notes, reflexive journals, direct observation, and document nalysis. The study examined both individual human behaviour and the structure of the social order in Catholic schools. The findings point towards successful leadership in Catholic schools being highly influenced by the cultural and spiritual capital that a principal brings to a school signifying a fundamental importance of appointing principals who are not only professionally competent but spiritually as well. In an era of unprecedented social, educational and ecclesial change, and with an ever widening role description, lay principals are challenged to redefine and re-articulate their Catholic character and identity, and will need to look for new ways to make this explicit. Embracing a new leadership paradigm of shared leadership, the preparation and on-going formation of lay principals were identified as critical for the continuance of the Catholic school’s distinctive mission in the future.

Problems faced by beginning principals

The job of a principal is becoming more demanding and more critical each year. Principals are asked to undertake huge challenges and to succeed regardless of what obstacles lie ahead. The purpose of this study was to identify which Administrative Task Areas and Specific Task Areas caused the most difficulties for first- and second-year principals.^ A survey was taken of first- and second-year principals in Dade County, Florida. These beginning principals rated their level of proficiency for each administrative task area and each specific task within those areas. Participants rated their perceptions on a scale from one to four. The data were analyzed based on frequency distributions, percentages, means, and standard deviations.^ Beginning principals perceived themselves as least proficient in the administrative task areas of management and personnel duties. They believed their strongest areas were curriculum and instruction and school-community relations. Within these areas, the specific administrative task areas identified as most problematic were identifying proper procedures for construction in the schools, visiting classrooms to help teachers improve instruction, awareness of issues related to school law, establishing accounting procedures for the school's internal funds, and procedures for dismissing incompetent staff members.^ Many beginning principals surveyed volunteered to make recommendations for future beginning principals. Of these recommendations, the most popular responses addressed obtaining more experience with the budget and internal funds prior to becoming a principal. In addition, there was a strong need for more training dealing with school personnel and the importance of networking with a veteran principal.^ The principal training programs for five of the largest school districts in Florida were reviewed. These programs were found to incorporate a vast amount of the recommendations included in the literature. Florida is moving in the right direction toward excellence in the public schools. ^

The effects of sex of teacher, sex of scenario principal, and leadership style on the performance ratings of scenario principals by teachers

This study was designed to address questions regarding the effects of sex and leadership style on teacher perceptions of principal effectiveness. On a researcher-designed instrument, middle school teachers rated the effectiveness of a scenario principal's response in several situations. The responses reflected varying levels of Task and Relationship Behavior.^ The design incorporated two between subjects factors (Teacher Sex and Principal Sex) and one within subjects factor (Leadership Style) which was treated as a repeated measure. An analysis of variance revealed no significant effects except for Leadership Style. Overall, High Task/High Relationship behavior rated significantly higher and Low Task/Low Relationship rated significantly lower than the others. The null hypothesis concerning differences could not be rejected and the stated research hypotheses were not supported.^ Additional analyses of variance were conducted substituting subject demographic variables for Teacher Sex in the research design. No significant interactions or main effects other than Leadership Style were noted when either Age or Ethnicity were substituted.^ A significant two-way interaction was noted for Teacher Experience and Leadership Style (p =.0316). Less experienced teachers rated principal's performance lower when exhibiting High Task/Low Relationship style than did more experienced teachers. A significant three-way interaction was noted for Administrative Aspiration x Principal Sex x Leadership Style (p =.0294). Teachers who indicated an intent to enter administration differed more on their ratings between male and female principals exhibiting mixed styles of High Task/Low Relationship and Low Task/High Relationship than did teachers who indicated no or undecided.^ Sex of the teacher appears less important than sex of the principal on performance ratings. Results suggest further study of the effects of teacher experience and teacher administrative aspiration on perceptions of principal effectiveness. ^

A case study: Perceptions of the induction process of intern principals in Broward County Public Schools

The case study is a qualitative study of the perceptions of a purposeful sample of intern principal participants in Broward County Public School's 2001-2003 principal leadership induction program through survey, interview and document analysis of their experiences concerning their success or failure in achieving the position of principal. The study focused on constructs of professional and organizational socialization and instructional leadership that research suggests are vital and integrated components of the effective development of aspiring instructional leaders. ^ The findings revealed that purposeful mentoring, a variety of site placement, hands on practical experiences, in addition to the quality of experience measured by the number of years prior experience are positively reported to affect the degrees of success perceived by intern principals. The study validated the interrelatedness of the three constructs professional and organizational socialization and instructional leadership as components that are realized in the development process through formal and informal characteristics of socialization. The data gathered would be of benefit to principal leadership program designers to assist in their understanding of participants' successes and failures that influence individual needs based on their experience as perceived by this group. ^ Implications for further study are the need for better understanding of leadership development, continued reinforcement of best practices such as mentoring, site shadowing and coaching, clarification of the administrator's role, data analysis, curriculum implementation and student achievement. Organizations need to implement a common set of expectations, reasoning, attitudes, and understanding of purpose that guide behaviors. Recommendations are to design leadership induction programs to meet individual strengths and weaknesses not a one-size-fits-all program including a constructive and prescriptive two-way feedback system, select and assign mentors based on their expertise and candidate needs, varied site placements, develop skills to build collaborative relationships, and a standards based monitoring and assessment system to document program mastery and completion. ^

Technology professional development for principals: Impact on the integration of technology in elementary schools

The use of technology in schools is no longer the topic of educational debates, but how to ensure that technology is used effectively continues to be the focal point of discussions. The role of the principal in facilitating the successful integration of technology in the school is well established. To that end, the Florida Department of Education implemented the FloridaLeaders.net: a three-year professional development project in technology for school administrators. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of this professional development project on integrating technology in elementary schools. ^ The study compared a group of schools whose principals have participated in the FloridaLeaders.net (FLN) program with schools whose principals have not participated in the program. The National Technology Standards for School Administrators and the National Technology Standards for Teachers were used as the framework to assess technology integration. ^ The sample consisted of three groups of educators: principals (n = 47), media specialists (n = 110), and teachers (n = 167). Three areas of technology utilization were investigated: (a) the use of technology in management and operations, (b) the use of technology in teaching and learning, and (c) the use of technology for assessment and evaluation. Analyses of variances were used to examine the differences in the perceptions and use of technology in each of the three areas, among the three groups of educators. ^ The findings indicated that the difference between FLN and non-FLN schools was not statistically significant in most of the technology indicators. The difference was however significant in two cases: (a) The use of technology for assessment and evaluation, and (b) The level of technology infrastructure in FLN schools. Additionally, all FLN and non-FLN groups reported the need for technology training for teachers to provide them with the necessary "know-how" to effectively integrate technology into the classrooms. ^ These findings would indicate that FloridaLeaders.net was not effective in integrating technology in schools over and above other current efforts. It is therefore concluded that the FLN project had some favorable impact but had not met all of its stated objectives. ^

Secondary school inclusion rates: The relationship between the training and beliefs of school site principals and the implementation of inclusion

Programs require strong support and guidance from those in leadership positions to ensure proper implementation (Fullen, 2001). Consequently, school site principals must rely on the training they have received to support them in making appropriate decisions. It is the school site principal’s leadership that is pivotal in the success of students with disabilities (DiPaola & Walther-Thomas, 2003; Monteith, 2000). In fact, the principal has a moral obligation to provide an environment that supports social justice in schools (Grogan & Andrews, 2002). The inclusion of students with disabilities does just that—it ensures that these students are not segregated to a “separate but equal” education. This study utilized a participant survey to collect data on principals’ beliefs and training in special education. This information was compared to the percentage of time students with disabilities spent with their non-disabled peers in the principals’ respective schools. An analysis was conducted to identify if a linear relationship exists between the selected variables and the inclusion percentages. Open-ended questions were included in the original survey which allowed for a thematic analysis of the responses. These responses were utilized to allow participants to further express their thoughts on the identified variables. Results indicated that there were no statistically significant relationships identified between the beliefs and training of secondary school site principals and the percentage of time that their students in special education spend with their non-disabled peers. Although the original research questions were not supported, further post hoc analysis indicated that the results obtained did support that the principals believed inclusion had a social benefit to students. Additional investigation into the academic benefits of inclusion is still needed. In addition, principals who indicated that they had some type of training in special education indicated a higher percentage that the individual student should be the focal point when making placement decisions. These results support the need for further research in the area of principal preparation programs and their relationships to the daily practice of school site principals.

The examination of the relationships among secondary principals' leadership behaviors, school climate, and student achievement in an urban context

School principals' leadership is key to successful school reform, as is increased student achievement. This nonexperimental ex post facto study tested relationships among secondary school principals' leadership behaviors, school climate, and student achievement. Of 165 secondary school principals from the three largest school districts in South Florida, 58 completed three online survey instruments: the Leadership Practices Inventory, School Climate Inventory-Revised, and researcher-designed Demographic Questionnaire. Student achievement was measured by students' scores on the reading and mathematics Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests. Three null hypotheses tested relationships among (a) five principals' leadership behaviors and seven domains of school climate; (b) principals' leadership behaviors and student achievement; and (c) principals' leadership behaviors, school climate, and student achievement. Multiple linear regressions were used to determine the degree to which the independent variables predicted the dependent variables for the first two hypotheses. ANOVAs tested possible group differences between the demographic and research variables as controls for the third hypothesis. Partial correlational analyses tested the strength and direction of relationships among leadership behaviors, climate, and achievement. Results revealed partial support of the hypotheses. None of the leadership variables significantly predicted school climate. No significant relationships were found among the five leadership behaviors and student achievement. Demographic group differences in school climate and student achievement were marginally significant. The leadership behaviors of Inspiring a Shared Vision and Enabling Others to Act were positively linked to reading achievement. Partial correlations were found (r .27 to −.35) among school climate variables of Order, Involvement, and Expectation and achievement variables. The Modeling the Way leadership variable was negatively associated with reading achievement. After controlling for gender, years at current school, and years in the district, partial positive correlations were found among leadership, school climate, and student achievement. Inspiring a Shared Vision, Enabling Others to Act, Encouraging the Heart, and Challenging the Process leadership variables were partially correlated to Order, Leadership (Instructional), and Expectation climate variables. Study results should provide policymakers and educators with a leadership profile for school leaders challenging the status quo who can create schools for enhanced student learning and relevance to the needs of students, families, and society.