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The purpose of the study was to identify assistant principals' perceptions of their roles in school leadership, their experiences with student discipline in the public school setting pre- and post-COVID-19, and the professional learning they were provided to navigate the student discipline process. The basic qualitative study addressed two research questions: What were high school assistant principals' perceptions of leadership related to student discipline in public schools pre- and post-COVID pandemic? Furthermore, what professional development would support assistant principals with the student discipline process post-COVID-19? Using a standard interview protocol, the researcher interviewed eight high school assistant principals in one southeastern Virginia school division. The interview questions were organized into themes in response to the research questions based on the respondents' shared perceptions of their roles, student discipline experiences pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic, including professional development needs. This study revealed that assistant principals perceived changes in their leadership capacity due to declining student behavior, and the frequency of student discipline referrals "increased dramatically" post-COVID-19 pandemic. Whereas high school assistant principals prioritized instructional leadership before the pandemic, in the post-COVID-19 pandemic, negative student behavior caused school leaders to focus on processing school discipline over instructional leadership. This research found that student behaviors changed the educational landscape post-COVID-19, highlighting areas of concern for student well-being, such as physical aggression, substance abuse, lack of school attendance, and mental health concerns. The study also found that high school assistant principals reflected positive outcomes post-COVID-19 pandemic as they adjusted their professional practice as empathetic leaders fostering positive relationships with school stakeholders. Finally, the researcher sought to examine the high school assistant principals' experiences with professional development opportunities when learning the student discipline process. The study found that assistant principals wanted actionable, collaborative, and interactive learning opportunities, including authentic mentorships, hands-on learning experiences, and guidance to communicate with stakeholders during the student discipline process. Implications from this study include calling on the Department of Education, school divisions, and school principals to identify, plan, and support high school assistant principals as they navigate the role of school leaders post-COVID-19 pandemic.

Educational equity is a strategy through which schools prioritize equitable access to learning experiences most appropriate for each student's needs. It is an attempt to reduce inequitable student outcomes by closing gaps in students' opportunities to access the teachers, learning, and resources they need. Instructional leaders are vital to how educational equity manifests in the school setting, and assistant principals serve in this capacity among many. The purpose of this study was to identify assistant principals' preparation, opportunity, and self-reported professional learning needs to serve as equity-focused instructional leaders. The researcher sought participation from a sample of assistant principals from four school divisions in Virginia. For this quantitative study, participants completed a researcher-developed survey about equity-focused instructional leadership practices adapted from an educational equity framework developed by the Virginia Department of Education and the nationally recognized BELE framework. The researcher analyzed survey responses and used descriptive statistics to report findings that answered three research questions about assistant principals' preparation, opportunity, and self-reported professional learning needs to serve as equity-focused instructional leaders. The data revealed that assistant principals are prepared and often engage in multiple equity-focused instructional leadership practices. Assistant principals would benefit from increased opportunities and additional professional learning in some areas of equity-focused instructional leadership. The researcher identified implications for the practice of assistant principals and made recommendations for future research that might provide insight for principals, division leaders, and state personnel into how to utilize and support assistant principals in this capacity.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of individuals who transition into the assistant principal (AP) position for APs in Xander County Public Schools (XCPS). This study aimed to answer: what were the perceptions of individuals as they transitioned to assistant principal? The theory guiding this study was Schlossberg’s transition theory which provided a conceptual framework for creating generalized themes of the participants’ experiences. Studies of building level leadership typically focused on the principal. This study sought to fill the void in the research literature around the assistant principal transition. Schlossberg’s transition theory was used as the conceptual framework for this study in order to align the thematic grouping of ideas to the 4S’s transition model which outlines a person’s ability to cope in the four categories of situation, self, support, and strategies. This qualitative study employed a transcendental phenomenological approach with a sample size of twelve assistant principals from one urban school district located east of the metropolitan city of Atlanta, Georgia. Data were collected through a semi-structured interview, focus group, and annotated picture submission. Qualitative analysis indicated that persons transitioning to the role of assistant principal relied on meaningful past experiences, situational learning, and relationships to cope with their transition phase. Data analysis further indicated that organizational factors such as mentorship and leadership programs all contributed to the persistence of assistant principals in the transition phase.

Research on grit, growth mindset, and servant leadership theories has found that implementing these theories in school settings can positively impact student achievement. However, a study has not been conducted investigating the combined effects of the three theories. The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive linear relationship of grit (criterion variable), growth mindset (predictor variable), and servant leadership (predictor variable) with school administrators. This study used a quantitative prediction design utilizing the self-report measures of the Grit-S Scale, the Growth Mindset Scale, and the SL-7. Thirty-four principals, 25 assistant principals, and nine elementary interns in a school district in Utah participated in the study for a total of 68 participants. Results from a multiple regression analysis suggested a statistically significant predictive relationship between the variables. Future research recommendations included replicating this study with participants from multiple school districts, using the longer versions of the instruments, and investigating using the mixed-method design with leaders who are self-reported gritty, growth-minded, servant leaders.

Past research has shown a relationship between individuals’ attitudes and their intentions to act. The attitudes of principals and assistant principals can impact the implementation of inclusion in the public school setting. This predictive correlational study used multiple regression to analyze the linear relationship between the opinions about inclusion and the factors of administrative assignment, school level, administrative experience, special education endorsement, gender, percentage of minority students served, percentage of students served identified as economically disadvantaged, and percentage of students served identified with a disability. The sample included 104 elementary and middle school principals and assistant principals representing 26 Virginia school divisions. Administrator opinions were measured by completion of the Opinions Relative to Integration of Students with Disabilities (ORI). Data analysis revealed the percent of the variance is explained by the linear combination of the eight predictor variables was not statistically significant. Examination of the partial correlations for each predictor variable revealed that only the condition of holding a special education endorsement or not made a unique contribution to explaining the score on the ORI. Suggestions for future research include replicate the study in more Virginia divisions or other states, expand the study to include qualitative components, or expand the scope of the study to include other administrative roles, instrumentation, or theoretical constructs.

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand assistant principals’ (APs) leadership and perceptions of their roles. The study took place in a suburban school system located in the southeastern United States. The central research question asked, “How do assistant principals lead and perceive their role as APs?” The theory guiding this research was situational leadership theory as it demonstrated how leadership styles must be related to the needs of the constituents. Ambiguity and burnout were examined as factors that can impact APs’ leadership and their perceptions of leadership. The data for this case study were collected through interviews, focus groups, and documents. Data analysis was based upon coding and memoing to ascertain common patterns and themes that emerged during data analysis. The study reflected that a significant gap in AP research exists. The findings indicated that APs are essential leaders within schools. APs’ leadership is based upon the needs of the those whom they lead, and they build relationships to ascertain and support these needs. Additionally, APs benefit from working collaboratively with APs in small groups and with mentors.

While research on the superintendent, principal, or teacher may be prevalent, research on the assistant principal is lacking. This qualitative study based on phenomenological research was focused on determining overall job satisfaction of high school assistant principals in Ohio as well as the factor that role ambiguity, role conflict, and/or facet satisfaction play on the overall job satisfaction. The study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 12 high school assistant principals in Ohio, both male and female with 0-5 or 6 or more years of experience in a rural, suburban, or urban school district. Data were initially analyzed and coded by hand. Further coding was accomplished by using MAXQDA, a computer-assisted qualitative analysis software. Findings followed the theoretical framework used for the study, Lawler’s (1994) Theory of Facet Satisfaction. This framework, and the study, showed that assistant principals often have different actual job responsibilities than those they assumed they would have or those they identified as ideal. Most assistant principals in the study experienced instances of role ambiguity and role conflict. The majority of the assistant principals had a high rating of job satisfaction regardless of the differences in job responsibilities or instances of ambiguity and conflict. Recommendations were given based on the findings of this study for both high and low job satisfaction.

Purpose: Historically, serving in the position of Assistant Principal has been thought to be an adequate training experience that prepares these administrators for school leadership. However, due to role ambiguity and limited professional development specifically focused on their needs, this group of leaders may lack the necessary abilities and sensibilities to meet the needs of a more diverse student population. The purpose of this study explores whether the roles, responsibilities, and professional development opportunities afforded to assistant principals have prepared them for leadership in diverse schools. Furthermore, this study explored assistant principals’ perceptions of their preparedness through the lens of culturally responsive school leadership. Research Methods: Following a qualitative case study design, this dissertation focused on the construct of culturally responsive school leadership theory. Six assistant principals, one school principal, and one district leader served as the participants for this research. Data were gleaned from interviews, document review, and researcher field notes. This study provides insight into the perceptions of preparedness of assistant principals to lead in diverse contexts and identifies professional development needs and some salient practices of culturally responsive school leaders. Data analysis followed the three-phase method defined by Strauss and Corbin (1994). Findings: Results indicated that the roles, responsibilities, and professional development provided to assistant principals have not fully prepared them for leadership in diverse schools. These findings also indicated a belief that lived experiences have helped with assistant principals’ preparation. Implications: This study illuminates the importance of providing assistant principals with ongoing, targeted professional development to meet their specific needs while providing some salient practices through the utilization of the Culturally Responsive School Leadership framework at the university, school district, and local school levels.

Women continue to be in the minority in school administration in public schools in the United States, although the majority of teachers are female. The role of assistant principal is the gateway to school administration. The purpose of this study was to describe the essence of the transition from teaching to school administration, the role of a female assistant principal, and the career aspirations of female assistant principals. This study used a phenomenological approach to understand the essence of the transition for the participants. Six women were interviewed using a semi-structured interview protocol to collect data on their experiences transitioning to the role of assistant principal. Using the process of horizonalization, the data were transcribed and analyzed using statements and quotes from the interviews to develop themes common to all participants. Findings revealed that these women continually seek to better themselves, others, and their organizations. They experienced a significant sense of loss as they transitioned to their new role. Lastly, the supports needed by women as they continue in their career as school administrators were uncovered.

The purpose of this study was to investigate self-efficacy and organizational efficacy as reported by assistant principals for relationships to their job preparation experiences in one K-12 public school district. Bandura defined self-efficacy as "]belief in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments" (1997, p. 3). Organizational efficacy has been defined as "an aggregated judgment of an organization's individual members' assessment of their (a) collective capacities, (b) mission or purpose, and (c) sense of resilience" (Bohn, 2010, p. 233). As efficacious beliefs have reciprocal influence that can better fortify performance (Bandura, 1997), this study explored both self-efficacy and organizational efficacy to provide a bi-level depiction of assistant principal efficacy. The self-efficacy measurement was gathered through the 2006 School Administrator Efficacy Scale (SAES) survey (McCollum, Kajs, and Minter, 2006a, 2006b) and the organizational efficacy measurement was gathered through the 2010 Organizational Efficacy Scale (OES) survey (Bohn, 2010). Additionally, self-reported demographics and job preparation experiences were gathered through a participant information survey. Beyond descriptive analyses that established benchmarking efficacy measurements for the participating school district, ANOVA analyses revealed no significant relationships in self-reported self-efficacy or organizational efficacy based upon the job preparation experiences of assistant principals. The benchmarking measurements were presented to inform school district leaders as they direct future district succession, mentoring, or professional development planning for increased efficacious leadership development and for improved human capital management results.

School leaders live in a world of increased accountability, higher student and leadership standards, and increased expectations of student achievement. The leader is key in establishing the ethics and norms that govern the people in the school through their actions and words. Yet, moral and ethical leadership in schools have been given very little attention in scholarship and research. This qualitative study generated a grounded theory of ethical leadership in action used by early career school leaders. Sixteen narratives of everyday situations written by eight assistant principals in public schools were analyzed from three perspectives: 1) leadership practices, 2) principles used to resolve the challenges and situations, and 3) dilemmas embedded in the situations. Results showed that the assistant principals applied five moral concepts in resolving the situations and a single-loop theory-of-action. This study broadened the awareness and understanding of the assistant principals' a) application of the ethics standard in practice; b) their ethical decision-making as a critical leadership task of assistant principals; c) their complex role as leaders in the school; and d) their craft knowledge of school leadership through their own eyes and voices of early career leaders.

For nearly a decade, researchers have tried to answer the question, “Does a principal shortage exist?” The question is not whether a principal shortage exists, but what factors are causing the shortage? Traditionally, the assistant principalship has been the stepping-stone to the principalship. With the principalship continuously evolving into a myriad of expectations, there is a growing body of research that includes suggestions that assistant principals are deciding not to enter the principalship. The purpose of this quantitative research study was to identify personal and institutional factors affecting career advancement decisions of assistant principals in the state of Georgia. Using a career advancement decision survey created by Dr. Charles Jeffords, the researcher solicited responses from 978 assistant principals from all parts of the state of Georgia. Three hundred six respondents completed the survey online using Survey Money, yielding a (31.3%) response rate. The researcher sought to answer the two research questions. First, are current Georgia school assistant principals choosing not to seek positions of greater responsibility because of personal or systemic reasons? Second, what factors govern the career advancement decisions of Georgia assistant principals? The findings revealed the majority of the assistant principals in this study felt that the nature of administrative work making it an unattractive career choice is either a somewhat important factor or an important factor (66%). Furthermore, lack of opportunities (75%), a lack of training (68%), and a lack of visibility (72%) were additional factors that govern the career advancement decisions of Georgia assistant principals.

To identify how high school assistant principals in large suburban schools serve as instructional leaders and how they develop these skills, this research utilized a multiple-case study design, followed by a cross-case analysis of the data. This research explores the instructional leadership of three female comprehensive high school assistant principals who are employed in the same Northern California school district. Each case was developed with the use of interviews, observation and document analysis. Included in each case is a description of the assistant principal's instructional job responsibilities, how they develop their instructional leadership and obtain opportunities to function in instructional leadership roles. This research found several main themes. They include that the theoretical model for Hallinger's Principals Instructional Management Rating Scale did not work in regards to assistant principals, they were found to serve not in the role of leader, but more in the role of facilitator and relationship builders, the role of the assistant principal has not evolved over the past century, they are constrained by the political dynamics of their school structure which leaves them as marginalized leaders, they lack opportunities to grow as instructional leaders due to opportunities for professional development and the ambiguity of their role, and female assistant principals may not take the opportunity to serve as a leader since this may not be perceived natural due to their gender association.

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the experiences, educational and job related, that middle school assistant principals have received to prepare, and to become principals. In order to explore and describe those experiences provided by the middle school principals a phenomenological research design was used for this study. Those participants who were interviewed work in middle schools within Region V of the Virginia School University Partnership. This research project included two steps in data collection. The first step required the assistant principals to examine the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium Standards (ISLLC), and indicate whether they had experienced those functions under each standard in one or more of three areas: principal preparation, job responsibility, and district professional development. The second parts of the study involved follow up interview questions for each in the participants. The findings of the study discuss that the standards are addressed and also how the assistant principals feel about their preparation and school district professional development.

Abstract: The question that this study addressed was how Catholic educators from diverse experiential backgrounds negotiate personally persuasive and authoritative discourses in fashioning their identities as assistant principals. The inquiry is framed by poststructuralist perspectives on identity and uses as a methodology an ethnographic interview approach in an effort to understand the transition from teacher to assistant principal. Interviews with three first-year assistant principals in two Catholic school districts in a Western Canadian province formed part of the data. To obtain the school district’s perspectives, I also interviewed district-level personnel who were responsible for leadership formation. Documents from the Ministry of Education that included the newly developed provincial standards for principals as well as documents from the two school districts were also analyzed. The research findings reveal that beginning assistant principals negotiate their identities as educational leaders when they assume a role and that the expectations of the role existed before their arrival. These expectations are the authoritative discourses that shape the educational leader within the school district and that are negotiated with the personally persuasive discourses of the leader. The tensions that new assistant principals in the study negotiated were conflicting discourses of leadership and the dissonance between the challenges and affirmations regarding participants’ deeply held values and the traditional institutional demands on administrators and between the role expectations and the autonomous decision making of leaders. The implications of emphasizing questions of identity in leadership development shift the thinking on the assistant principal beyond the organizational structure of the role. School districts must better attend to the development of the identity of their educational leaders by restructuring leadership training programs and ensuring the effectiveness of mentoring programs. New assistant principals must themselves address the differences between role and identity and direct attention to the importance of developing and strengthening their identities as educational leaders.

Researchers in the field of educational administration have given little attention to the role of the associate principal. The research reported in this dissertation sought to fill that void through a close examination of the roles of the associate principals on two campuses in two different school districts. In addition to illustrating the role of the associate principal, the research examines how experience as an associate principal influences the careers of educational administrators. Data were collected primarily by means of semi-structured interviews with principals and district administrators as well as the associate principals themselves to provide multiple perspectives. Data were summarized in detailed interview logs, coded to discover the themes that were characteristic of each case, then analyzed to identify the patterns within and across the cases. The interviews were also analyzed as narratives reflecting on how experience as an associate principal can shape an educational administrator's career. The interview data were supplemented with documents relating to the associate principals, their campuses, and their districts. The results suggest that the associate principal position is a crucial step on the career ladder to a secondary principalship. Assistant principals with knowledge and skills in curriculum, instruction, and assessment are more likely to be selected as associates, and associates are more likely to be selected for principalships. The results also indicate that instructional leadership for associate principals in Texas focuses primarily on improving students' performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills and on increasing participation in and performance on other standardized tests, in particular Advanced Placement, SAT (formerly the Scholastic Aptitude Test), ACT (formerly American College Testing), and the PSAT/NMSQT (Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test).

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent secondary assistant principals in large Texas high schools demonstrate behaviors consistent with what the literature describes as instructional leadership. Three hundred seventy principals and assistant principals of large Texas high schools participated in this study. The Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (Hallinger, 1987) was used to quantify instructional leadership in 10 different job functions. The study found that (a) assistant principals perceive themselves as exhibiting instructional leadership behaviors at a high frequency, (b) principals perceive their assistant principals exhibiting instructional leadership behaviors at a high frequency, (c) the perceptions of the principals and assistant principals were similar, and (d) principals and assistant principals reported more engagement in instructional leadership responsibilities and felt more pressured over the last five years under the new accountability and rating requirements of No Child Left Behind and the state assessments. These findings suggested that the administrative roles and responsibilities in high schools should be restructured to allow assistant principals to focus on instructional leadership.

The major purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the instructional leadership role and responsibilities of middle school assistant principals and their level of involvement in instructional leadership. Specifically, this study determined the extent of involvement of the middle school assistant principal as an instructional leader in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The data gathered compared instructional leadership tasks to various demographic variables and determined the amount of time spent performing the instructional leadership tasks. The Sources of Instructional Leadership(SOIL) survey instrument was revised and used in addition to a demographic survey to collect the data. A total of 396 surveys were mailed to middle school assistant principals across the state of Virginia. The SOIL survey includes 31 instructional leadership tasks that describe the instructional leadership responsibilities of assistant principals. The research design is non-experimental and descriptive. The methodology was a modification of the methodology used in a study conducted by Bush (1997). The design used a demographic survey, the SOIL survey and time study to collect data. The data collected answered the following research questions: 1. What instructional leadership roles and responsibilities are performed by middle school assistant principals in Virginia? 2. What is the relationship between instructional leadership responsibilities performed and specific demographic variables? 3. How much time do middle school assistant principals spend on instructional issues each week? Conclusions from the data reveal the primary instructional leadership responsibilities of Virginia middle school assistant principals are: (1) developing a school climate that is conducive to learning (2) improving student discipline, and (3) communicating a concern for student achievement. The data also indicate that older assistant principals are more involved in observing and evaluating staff than younger assistant principals. Additionally, the study found that the more instructional leaders in a school, the more involved assistant principals are with tasks that are associated with developing an academic climate. Furthermore, almost 80% of the participants indicated they spent between 10-30% of their instructional task time developing an academic climate each week. Nearly 50% of the participants spent the least amount of time on tasks that focus on coordinating the instructional program.

ABSTRACT PREPARATION OF THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL FOR THE ROLE OF THE PRINCIPAL: AN EXAMINATION OF REAL TASKS AS COMPARED TO THE PERCEIVED IDEAL TASKS by April Chastang Madden Principals most commonly ascend from the pool of those who are assistant principals, but it is unclear whether assistant principals are prepared to assume such a pivotal leadership role. This study seeks to compare the extent of on the job training provided to the assistant principals by examining ideal as compared to actual task performance in six competency areas associated with the job of principal. The research questions were as follows: 1. What are the perceived ideal professional tasks assistant principals should perform prior to becoming a principal? 2. Which tasks are performed by assistant principals? 3. Do these performed tasks prepare assistant principals for principalships? Utilizing Survey Monkey, a survey was e-mailed to principals with 1-3 years of experience in the State of Georgia. Descriptive statistics, Pearson Correlations, and t-tests were used for data analysis. As for research question 1, this study revealed that the tasks that ranked the highest among the study participants regarding perceived ideal tasks that assistant principals should perform prior to becoming principal were the competencies falling under the categories of Instructional Leader, Leadership in Staff Personnel, and Management of Schools. For question 2, Pearson Correlation showed that there were no significant correlations for ideal and actual tasks, except in the area of Instructional Leader. Regarding research question 3, The Pearson Correlation along with t-tests of subscales showed that there are significant differences between the ideal and actual tasks performed by assistant principal. The Pearson Correlation highlighted that the only significant correlation between ideal and actual competency tasks was found in the area of Instructional Leader. In conclusion, this study indicated that assistant principals are not adequately prepared to transition to the role of principal.

The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) was used to examine the level of job satisfaction experienced by career assistant principals and whether gender, school level, or career aspirations impacted that job satisfaction. Then, a list of duties commonly performed by assistant principals was created and respondents were asked to use a Likert scale to indicate the level of satisfaction they received from performing the duties. Career assistant principals were defined as those with seven or more years of experience and/or those who did not want to move higher in education. Requests were sent (by e-mail and postal mail) to 519 public school assistant principals in Georgia asking them to complete the survey by logging on to www.quia.com/sv/100751.html. A response rate of 42.9% (220 surveys) was received: 66 of those responses matched the definition of career assistant principals. The percentage of participants considered satisfied with their jobs was 69.69%. An ANOVA was then calculated to determine if gender, school level, or career aspiration impacted job satisfaction. Results of the ANOVA showed there were no statistically significant relationships between job satisfaction and gender, job satisfaction and school level, or job satisfaction and career aspirations. Many of the conclusions drawn from the data gathered in this study support the current research that gender and school level does not impact job satisfaction. Creating the school master schedule provided the most job satisfaction with a Likert mean of 4.20. The duties were then classified as requiring a leader or a manger. Career assistant principals found satisfaction in duties requiring a leader and manager as seen by the mean satisfaction score of 3.86 for duties requiring a leader and 3.75 for duties requiring a manager. . A t-test was applied to determine if there was a significant difference between these two categories. It suggested that there was no significant difference. However, 91% of respondents performed at least 24 out of 30 of the duties listed and 80% performed all of the listed duties which reinforced the concept that assistant principals undertake a myriad of duties in their position.

Even though the role of the assistant principal originated in the 1800s, it has been given very little attention in the literature. Little, if anything, has been done to define this role or to provide training for those who serve in this capacity. In most school systems, the assistant principalship is the training-ground for the principalship and it also is the starting position for the majority of assistant principals who expect to move upwards into other areas of school administration. In addition, the last two decades have brought about changing job pressures and expectations for the principal and the assistant principal. Because the assistant principal is frequently more actively engaged in the lives of students than is the principal, this administrator also helps to establish the culture of the building. Therefore, it seemed relevant to study the role of the assistant principal to determine the typical range of duties engaged in and to identify how school districts might profit from the more effective use of this valuable resource. This study investigates the relationship between the assistant principal’s instructional and transformational leadership style and student achievement. Student achievement was measured on the Ohio report card by the Adequate Yearly Progress rating, the Performance Index score and the school’s Designation. Designation is the most representative of the three state scores because this score combines multiple measures of both the Adequate Yearly Progress score (AYP) and the Performance Index. An ex post facto design was utilized for this study. Participants, consisting of 100 assistant principals from rural, suburban and urban school districts throughout Ohio, were asked to complete a questionnaire that was developed by the researcher and entitled the Leadership Questionnaire for the Assistant Principal (LQAP). The questionnaire asked each respondent to rate the amount of time they spent during their work day engaged in a range of instructional and transformational leadership behaviors. Student achievement results for each building in which the assistant principals worked were then gathered from the Ohio Department of Education and correlated with the level of instructional and transformational tasks that the assistant principals reported. Three of the hypotheses tested were found to be significant. When both instructional and transformational leadership style were combined, they accounted for a significant amount of variance in predicting the school’s performance on the Designation rating. In addition, instructional leadership alone predicted the school’s Designation rating independent of transformational leadership. Transformational leadership alone predicted the Designation independent of the instructional leadership. According to the reported behaviors of the assistant principals, the amount of time this administrator continues to spend on discipline and traditional managerial tasks persists. They often receive no leadership training and have little or no opportunity to engage in instructional and transformational leadership activities. Results from this research suggest that if the assistant principal were trained in leadership skills and if their duties allowed them more opportunity to serve their school as instructional and transformational leaders, they might be a greater influence on student achievement and possibly help to close the achievement gap.

The purpose of the study is to ascertain the change, if any, in the past practices in regard to the duties of the assistant principal and to compare them with the current trends of the position. A supplementary reason is to explore this field as an opening for those who wish to enter the administrative branch of education.