Date of Award

12-1985

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Dr. Uldis Smidchens

Second Advisor

Dr. David Cowden

Third Advisor

Dr. Zigmund Krysak

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect that increased responsibilities had on the assistant principal's role. Because of increased responsibilities, it was believed that the assistant principals had been forced to become more task and less person oriented as a result of inadequate time to deal with both tasks and people. The study was designed to ascertain whether there had been growth in task responsibilities and, if so, whether the growth had caused the role to become more task than person oriented.

The sample consisted of 400 Michigan assistant principals. From this sample, 67% of the administrators responded. Personal and job related data were gathered via an Assistant Principal Questionnaire. The Leadership Opinion Questionnaire (Fleishman, 1969) provided measures of two dimensions of supervisory leadership, consideration and structure.

The following conclusions are based on the analysis of data findings. First, assistant principals had to face an increase in duties and responsibilities but did not have adequate time to deal with the increases. Second, administrators who reported task oriented duties as causes for an increase in job responsibilities did not structure their role or those of subordinates toward task attainment. This was paralleled by assistant principals who reported increased person oriented responsibilities, but who were not necessarily personal in relations with group members. Third, respondents perceived themselves as person oriented in nature. Fourth, assistant principals preferred to do person oriented type duties but in their actual role did task ones. Fifth, when reviewing the relationship of orientations to years experience, evidence was found to support the fact that assistant principals with lesser experience were more personal in their administrative approach but were not less structured in their goal completion approach than assistant principals with more experience. Finally, orientations of female and male administrators did not show a difference between the way they dealt with subordinates and duties.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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