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This paper reports the results of a factorial experiment investigating the reactions of male students to a hypothetical English course offered at the community college level. The participants (n=136) consisted of students enrolled in English 1010 courses at 4 community colleges in a Southeastern state. The independent variables were gender of student, gender of the author assigned, and the type of reading assigned (narrative/expository). The dependent variable was a composite rating of student attraction to the course. Males preferred male authors and revealed less interest in the course than females. Testing also detected an interaction effect between gender of the author and style of writing. Unlike previous studies, males preferred a narrative style to expository assignments. The findings have practical implications for educational programs, English instructors, and future research. (Contains 3 tables and 39 references.) (Author/SLD)

As school principals retire and the principal shortage is predicted to intensify over the next decade, proposals are being made for altering the role of the principal and for providing candidates with realistic and appealing job descriptions. This study was conducted to examine whether specified features of the principal's role influence the attitudes and job-search behaviors of men and women differently. Equal numbers of male (n=84) and female (n=84) public teachers read and rated descriptions of a vacant principal position. The job descriptions emphasized that the successful applicant would be expected to use a specified administrative model and work a specified number of hours per week. Contrary to expectation, an analysis-of-variance procedure revealed that androcentric bias may be declining in recruitment messages in job descriptions as sex-role and gender discrimination disappears. Position announcements depicting a democratic administrative model and shorter work week appealed to males more than to females. These results suggest research on how organizational representatives can reinvent the principalship in ways that will be more appealing to women. (Contains 26 references and 3 tables.) (RT)

The position of school principal has become unattractive; consequently, fewer qualified applicants are appearing to fill vacancies. To recruit new principals and retain veteran principals, a new model of the principalship is needed. This paper reviews research on factors that influence applicants and presents a brief overview of efforts to redesign the principalship. The research shows the main reason people are not applying for principal positions is the overwhelming workload required of the position. Additionally, people react differently to features of the position. Features that appeal to males may not appeal to females; features that appeal to elementary- and middle-school teachers may not appeal to high-school teachers; features that appeal to aspiring principals may not appeal to veteran principals. Most emerging models of the principalship cited from the research propose dividing the principal's duties into components performed by two or more individuals. To increase the applicant pool, the paper recommends the following: (1) consult studies examining the interaction between job features and applicant characteristics and modify the job in ways to appeal to underrepresented groups; (2) make job modifications uniquely suited to the school level; and (3) alter the position to appeal to prospective applicants at all stages of their careers. (Contains 28 references.) (WFA)

In the early 1980s, the National Commission on Excellence in Education called for reforming the recruitment of educational administrators. Today, this call has heightened importance because nearly half of the nation's superintendents report difficulty in filling principal vacancies. This research contributes to the literature about the principalship by examining whether teacher reactions to aspects of the principalship are subject to individual differences among the teachers and by using teachers, rather than administrators, as study participants. Seventy percent (n=139) of the students enrolled in educational administration classes elected to participate. The study sample consisted of nearly equal member of females and males. Multiple-regression analysis was used, in which teacher characteristics, job attributes, and working conditions served as independent variables, and teacher ratings of the principal's job served as the dependent variable. Results showed that most of the participants were highly attracted to the job and attributes of the job "swamped" other variables in terms of job attraction. Internal conditions of the workplace, such as the potential for job-related stress and time requirements, mitigated the positive influence of the job attributes. Female teachers were more likely to be deterred by the undesirable working conditions than were male teachers. Further research is recommended, such as investigating whether community leaders have unilateral power to alter the principal's role. (Contains 19 references and 3 tables.) (RT)

Policymakers have called for reinventing the principal's role because the long list of duties assigned to principals discourages potential applicants from applying for position vacancies. The focus of this study was to examine teachers' attraction to the principalship. Its purpose was to generate practical information that will inform efforts of policymakers engaged in reinventing the principal's role. A national sample of 239 randomly selected teachers rated position announcements for principal vacancies to generate data responsive to research questions. Results reveal that teacher reactions to the position announcements varied by gender and school size, with females and teachers employed in large schools being significantly less attracted to the job. Both males and females rated position announcements depicting a democratic leadership and a shorter work week more positively than they rated those depicting an authoritarian leadership style and a longer work week. It is recommended that organizational representatives wishing to increase the size of the applicant pool should both endorse the democratic approach to school administration and communicate this preference to prospective applicants. Women continue to represent a vast reservoir of untapped talent for leadership positions, begging the question of whether policymakers can reinvent the principalship in ways that appeal to women. (Contains 30 references and 2 tables.) (RT)

This study examined whether the benefits currently afforded to Kentucky school council members functioned as incentives for teachers to participate in local school governance and management. Public school teachers in a mid-sized Kentucky school district were asked to read and evaluate recruitment messages that emphasized the benefits to be gained from their service on a school council. The recruitment message content contained the collective set of informal rewards being offered in various schools and stipulated the connection between council work, improved student performance, and the acquisition of school-based financial awards. Data analysis indicated that the existing benefits failed to attract most teachers to school council service. Relatively inexperienced teachers and experienced teachers responded differently to the benefits depicted in the recruitment messages. Relatively inexperienced teachers rated job descriptions more positively than relatively experienced teachers when the job description emphasized pecuniary job benefits. There were no significant differences when the job description emphasized nonpecuniary job benefits. (Contains 31 references.) (SM)

This study examined teachers' attraction to school council service and factors that impacted that attraction. Participants were randomly selected public school teachers enrolled in graduate education courses at three Kentucky state universities. They performed three tasks. First, they completed a biographical form that yielded descriptive statistics and measures of seven teacher personal characteristics. Next, they read one of four content-validated versions of a formal job description for a teacher vacancy on the local school council. Each version emphasized one of two validated sets of school council job attributes (management or instructional leadership). Each of the four versions specified whether the principal was the council chair or a council member with a teacher serving as the chair. Finally, participants completed a two-item instrument that captured the degree of teacher attraction to the school council job depicted in the job description. Results indicated that teachers with greater numbers of dependent children and prior school council experience rated school council positions less favorably than did teachers with fewer dependent children and no experience on school councils. Results also revealed that the combined effects of dependent children and school council experience explained the 6.8 percent variance in teacher rating of a school council position. (Contains 56 references.) (SM)

This research examined teacher attraction to school council service. Public school teachers rated content-validated job descriptions for positions of school council member. The study design was a 2x2x3 analysis of variance. The independent variables were school council job attributes (instructional leadership or management); the role of the principal on the council (chair or member with a teacher as chair); and teacher school level (elementary school, middle school, or high school). The dependent variable was teacher reaction to school council job. Statistical testing detected a two-way interaction between job attributes and principal role on the council. When a teacher chaired the council, there was no variance in teacher ratings of the job. When a principal chaired the council, teachers rated the job with instructional leadership job attributes more favorably than the job with management job attributes. The study results have implications for job attraction theory and for recruiting teachers to leadership roles. (Contains 22 references.) (Author/SM)

This paper reports on a study in which classroom teachers were asked to describe their perceptions of the principalship and to identify factors that influenced the development of their perceptions. Forty-five elementary, middle, and high school teachers, all of whom were enrolled in a course designed to facilitate the transition of teachers from the classroom to the principalship, participated. The teachers' written narratives and use of language were analyzed, using the constructivist theory of knowledge and learning, to identify the teachers' existing perceptions of leadership as exercised by school principals. The results show that the teachers used hierarchical terms to describe the power vested in building principals. The teachers expected principals to manage the school, to foster a culture conducive to learning, to improve student learning, to promote the school's image to the community, and to influence the larger community. Few teachers reported having opportunities to engage in dialogue with principals and some reported that they formed their impressions of principals at an early age. Some of the teachers relied on family values to justify or explain their perceptions. The narratives provided information about factors that influence individual teacher's learning and the processes that teachers use to synthesize information. (RJM)

This paper examines teachers' principal-selection decisions. It is based on a study of teachers serving on school councils in Kentucky, where teachers, as members of local school councils, are empowered by reform legislation to participate in hiring decisions. The article reviews the related literature, including values theory, work values measurement, work values in education administration, selection research in education administration, and principal job attributes, and then describes the mechanism of the study on which the report is based. The study participants (N=169) were experienced teachers enrolled in graduate-education courses at a large research university in Kentucky. The study examined the effects of two between-groups factors (teacher school level and teacher dominant work value) and two within-groups factors (principal dominant work value and principal job attributes). The study participants rated each principal candidate--each rating served as a dependent variable. Findings show that teachers preferred candidates with whom they shared a dominant work value. Elementary and middle-school teachers preferred candidates oriented toward instructional leadership, whereas high school teachers preferred candidates oriented toward management. The findings suggest that teachers on school councils may need training support when called upon to participate in administrative decisions. (Contains 31 references.) (RJM)

This paper examines the effects of principal work values, teacher-job-candidate work values, and principal/teacher work-value interactions on principals' teacher-selection decisions. It extends empirical research about work values by examining the influence of values, operationalized as four work values (achievement, concern for others, fairness, honesty) germane to the school work environment. The document reviews related literature, including values theory, work values in education, and experimental designs for teacher-selection research. The report is based on a study of 115 principals that employed a mixed between-within design approach. The between-group independent variables included the four work values, four principal-candidate work-value interactions, and six principal characteristics such as age and gender. The dependent variable was "principal rating" of a teacher candidate. The Comparative Emphasis Scale measured the dominant work values of the school principals and the between-within factorial design. A stepwise multiple regression was used to regress principal ratings of a teacher candidate on principal and teacher dominant work values and on principal/teacher work-value interactions. The four work-value interactions and teacher work-value achievement accounted for a significant amount of variance in principal ratings of teachers, suggesting that principal work values influence teacher-selection decisions. (Contains 50 references.) (RJM)

Three policy strategies interpreted as intended to empower teachers within the new policy context of school autonomy were studied. Teacher services in Kentucky's school councils seemed to have little effect on empowering teachers since the researchers found in two studies involving 168 and 318 Kentucky teachers that teachers were not even attracted to the job in the first place. Facilitators of teacher collegial groups (two facilitators in a high school) were found to have potential in empowering group members, provided the facilitators conceptualized their roles as learners and supporters of the classroom experimentation process. Selection of the facilitator by the principal was a key factor in this empowerment strategy. In a study of 15 nationally recognized professional development programs, professional development was an effective empowerment strategy when several factors converged at the school site: (1) an atmosphere of support and trust; (2) teachers assuming leadership roles through administrator encouragement; (3) voluntary participation combined with professional norms fostering teacher involvement; (4) diverse, active learning and self-directed learning experiences connected to teacher work and expertise; (5) integration of efforts to improve classroom teaching and learning with school-level improvement and professional development plans; and (6) professional development as a way of life. Implications for building school instructional capacity are discussed. (Contains 49 references.) (Author/SLD)