Introduction

In the school, the principal is the CEO, but unlike CEOs in a business organization, the principal carries
many hats. She/He is the manager of human resources, the nurse, the provider of student lunches, the
public relations officer, the liaison between the school board and teachers. She/He is the evaluator of
student and teacher performance. She/He is the human resources manager. She/He is the hub and the
heartbeat of the school.
To accomplish such a feat, the principal must be multi-talented, a scholar, an analytical thinker, a reflective
practitioner, a human relations expert, a visionary leader in touch with local, national, and international
political and global issues affecting education. Through research and self-development activities, She/He
keeps up to date with the latest technology and the most effective instructional techniques and strategies.
The principal embodies the values, beliefs, and aspirations of the school, rallying and motivating teachers
to achieve school goals.

K-12 administrators
Working in local or private school systems, K-12 educational administrators have roles such as principal,
assistant or vice principal, technology administrator, curriculum administrator, and school district
superintendent.

Principals, assistant or vice principals, and other administrators are responsible for the daily functioning and
overall success of their schools. They lead elementary and secondary schools by managing teachers and
support staff, overseeing budgets and curricula, and more.

Superintendents oversee all the schools and staff within a school district, much like a principal but on a
larger scale, though they spend more time interacting with the school board and state officials than
principals do.

The principal as administrator

The principal is the administrator of the school. As administrator of the school, She/He works through
people to achieve school goals. Management and leadership are the two components of administration.
Whereas management consists of the routine behavior associated with performing the job, such as
planning, leading, controlling, budgeting, reporting, etc., leadership is influencing people and modifying their
beliefs, actions, and behaviors. When the principal leads, new structures, new procedures, and new goals
come into being.

The principal is said to be effective when her actions match school goals and when school goals are
significantly advanced. The principal is said to be efficient when She/He is able to use the limited resources
of the school to maximize benefits for the school.
As manager, the principal carries five broad functions: (1) planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and
controlling.

When planning, the principal sets broad objectives and goals, and She/He devises a plan to action to
execute these objectives and goals. When organizing, the principal harnesses all the school’s resources—
human, financial, physical, and environmental—to achieve school goals. When staffing, the principal
recruits qualified teachers and staff to carry out the goals of the school, and She/He matches teachers and
staff with the right job or grade level. When leading She/He supervises teachers, students, and all others
involved in carrying out the mission and the goals of the school. And when controlling, She/He sets
standards, evaluates teachers and students based on these standards, and provides feedback to improve
performance.

As manager, the principal carries five broad functions: (1) planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and
controlling.
When planning, the principal sets broad objectives and goals, and she devises a plan to action to execute
these objectives and goals. When organizing, the principal harnesses all the school’s resources—human,
financial, physical, and environmental—to achieve school goals. When staffing, the principal recruits
qualified teachers and staff to carry out the goals of the school, and she matches teachers and staff with
the right job or grade level. When leading she supervises teachers, students, and all others involved in
carrying out the mission and the goals of the school. And when controlling, she sets standards, evaluates
teachers and students based on these standards, and provides feedback to improve performance.

The principal’s responsibility falls into seven areas:

responsibility for human resources,
responsibility for students,
responsibility for instruction,
responsibility for financial resources
responsibility for school management,
responsibility for physical resources,
responsibility for community relationships.
1. Responsibility for human resources. The principal: (a) recruits teachers, (b) assigns teachers to the
proper grade level, (c) advises teachers, (d) holds individual and collective conferences with teachers, (e)
evaluates teachers, (f) designs and implements strategic staff development programs and inservice
training.
2. Responsibility for students. The principal: (a) enrolls students, (b) monitors discipline, (c) (d) ensures
student safety, (e) monitors attendance, (f) ensures student achievement, (g) monitors student activities, (h)
evaluates student performance.

3. Responsibility for instruction. The principal, based on school goals and the community’s expectations: (a)
establiShe/Hes relevant academic programs, (b) develops appropriate curriculum, (c) monitors the delivery
of instruction and ensures that appropriate and varied teaching techniques are utilized in the classroom to
ensure student learning, (d) ensures that the curriculum content is implemented in its right sequence, (e)
articulates what the curriculum is supposed to accomplish and the skills that should be learned, (f)
evaluates teacher performance and provides expert feedback that encourages self-assessment, self-
evaluation, and improvement, (g) is an instructional resource and provides instructional resources.

4. Responsibility for physical resources. The principal, based on school goals and academic programs: (a)
projects requirements for physical facilities, (b) designs and obtains additional facilities as needed by the
academic programs, (c) maintains and repairs existing facilities, (d) assigns and schedules classrooms.

5. Responsibility for financial resources. The wise management of financial resources is important to the
effectiveness of the school. The principal exercises fiscal responsibility in managing these resources.
She/He: (a) understands the implications of the district or school board budget requirements, (b) plans,
prepares, justifies, and defends the budget to the school board, (c) monitors expenditures, (d) plans for the
generation of additional income to support the school’s program, (3) manages the school within the limit of
the financial resources.

6. Responsibility for school management. In carrying out these responsibilities, the principal: (a)
communicates persuasively and effectively through oral and written communications, (b) manages time and
tasks effectively, (c) prepares rosters and calendars, ensuring that these are equitable, (d) attends school
boards.

7. Responsibility for community. The principal: (a) is expert at harnessing resources found in the community
through the establishment of professional partnerships and relationships of the community, (b) She/He
knows how to involve the support of the movers and shakers of the community to benefit her school, (c)
She/He finds out the what are the community’s expectations of the school, (d) She/He communicates
individually and collectively with parents to ensure student achievement.
The principal is not only manager, but She/He is the leader of the school. As the leader of the school
She/He is engaged in shaping views, beliefs, and concepts; motivating, influencing attitudes and behavior;
effecting change based on her intimate knowledge of the community and of the environment. She/He does
things right.

As an effective leader She/He possesses several characteristics:

She/He has superb interpersonal and human relationships skills—She/He is a people’s person,
She/He has an excellent approach to conflict management and resolves ambiguities well,
She/He manages time wisely by integrating a cluster of demands vying for principals’ attention,
She/He anticipates and adapts to changes in the environment by formulating new action plans and
preparing for contingencies,
She/He assesses and evaluates the effects of schooling on children based on her knowledge of the latest
findings in research.

The principal’s leadership encompasses six aspects.

She/He is the states person leader defining the school’s broad philosophy
She/He is the educational leader guiding the achievement of school’s educational objectives.
She/He is the instructional leader ensuring that teachers are committed and carry out the objectives of the
School.
She/He is the organizational leaders ensuring a supportive school structure and climate.
She/He is the administrative leader ensuring that the structure and climate exist for an extended period.
She/He is the team leader cooperating with teachers, staff, administrators in achieving school goals.

As one can see, the principal is the key person in the elementary school. To be effective, the principal must
first of all know herself, allow herself to go through God’s refining process, and then believe in the potential
of her teachers, staff, and students. By believing in herself and the persons with whom She/He works,
She/He will be able tap their potentials in achieving the mission of the school.

The Primary Responsibilities of Elementary Schools Administrators

 Manage day-to-day activities at an elementary or secondary school.
 Create instructional resources for use in the classroom.
 Develop academic programs.
 Monitor students and teachers for progress.
 Train, encourage, and mentor teachers and other staff.
 Manage career counseling.
 Administer record keeping.
 Supervise teachers, counselors, librarians, and other support staff.
 Maintain rapport with parents.
 Handle tours and marketing.
 Prepare budgets and annual reports.
 Work actively with teachers to maintain high curriculum standards.
 Formulate mission statements.
 Establish performance goals and objectives.
 Explain or answer procedural questions.
 Hire, train, and evaluate teachers.
 Visit classrooms and observe teaching methods.
 Examine learning materials.
 Review instructional objectives and adjust accordingly.
 Meet with other administrators, parents, and community organizations.