Degree Name

EdD (Doctor of Education)

Program

Educational Leadership

Date of Award

August 1983

Abstract

Problem. The problem of this study was to determine the importance of competencies within critical administrative task areas as perceived by selected elementary school principals. Methods. Participants for the study were randomly selected from a total population of 429 elementary principals serving schools containing kindergarten through grade six in the state of North Carolina. A questionnaire was mailed to the 250 principals selected to participate in the study. Of the returned instruments 187 were complete and used for statistical analyses, with the data being analyzed using the SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Fourteen null hypotheses were formulated and tested at the .05 level of significance. Each hypothesis was related directly to a demographic variable specified on the questionnaire. These hypotheses were then tested using the Kruskal-Wallis statistic, a nonparametric one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). ANOVA's were performed across each demographic variable for each competency within the five established critical administrative task areas. Findings. The findings of the study indicated the following information. No statistically significant difference in mean ranks was found in the following demographic variables: sex of the principal, age of the principal, geographic population of the school, school's level of student enrollment, principal's level of educational attainment, date principal's latest degree was earned, time served in the elementary principalship, principal's level of activity in professional organizations, and the occupational goals of principals. A statistically significant difference in mean ranks was found to exist overall between perceptions of the importance of competencies within critical administrative task areas held by principals who devote different amounts of time to professional growth weekly and by principals with different levels of membership in civic organizations. Conclusions. Significant differences were found in two of the demographic variables used to test the hypotheses for the study. Principals who devote more time to professional growth and those principals more involved in civic organizations tend to perceive these competencies as more important than other administrators in the state of North Carolina.

Document Type

Dissertation - unrestricted

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