Assistant Principals’ Perceptions of the Principalship

Abstract

Education research has established a significant relationship between school leadership and students’ achievement. This study considered the leadership self-efficacy and practice of public school assistant principals (AP) in the domains of facilitating a supportive collaborative learning environment, instructional leadership, school improvement, management, and family and community relations, as perceived by APs' self-report. Findings of this study suggest that, in addition to the strengths in the domain of facilitating a collaborative learning environment and efficacy around family and community engagement, there were explicit gaps in the instructional leadership and school improvement practices of APs that need to be addressed. The study also confirmed that there continues to be a proliferation of duties and a lack of consistent set of practices.