A study of the demographic characteristics of elementary assistant principals in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the tasks they perform

The problem in this study was to ascertain the demographic characteristics and the tasks performed by elementary assistant principals in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Additionally, this study sought to ascertain how elementary assistant principals were assigned to their positions, what their career aspirations were, what training had contributed most to their success, what their greatest hindrance had been, how their tasks had been assigned to them, and the changes they had seen in the position in the past as well as what changes they anticipated in the future.

The Elementary Assistant Principals survey was mailed to elementary assistant principals in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Three-hundred and four questionnaires were mailed and two-hundred and six were returned. Seventy-four percent of the respondents returned the questionnaires.

The findings in this study reveal that elementary assistant principals in the Commonwealth of Virginia are typically middle aged males and they are involved in many of the tasks generally associated with elementary administration. The primary tasks of the assistant principals were in student discipline, student transportation, textbook inventories and administering the schools special education program. Elementary assistant principals in the Commonwealth of Virginia were least likely to be involved in tasks related to the school’s financial activities. Fifty task items were distributed across six functional categories including: community relations, curriculum and instruction, staff and personnel, student activities, school management, and student services.

Conclusions based on the results of this study indicate the importance of the principal in the training assistant principals through on-the-job training. A critique of this research study, as well as recommendations for further study are also included.