What Makes a Good Administrator?

As I have mentioned previously on this blog, I am working on my Master's in Educational Leadership.  I am hoping to pursue a job as an Assistant Principal in a local school.  Throughout my entire career as a teacher, and throughout my entire time in graduate school, the same question is always posed: what makes a good administrator?

While there are some definitive answers to this question, the definition of a good, effective administrator is not always as clear cut.  For example, the state of Maryland has outlined how principals can be effective in improving student achievement.  The website Empowering Administrators offers specific strategies for empowering school leaders as instructional leaders.   More locally, the state of North Carolina has outlined new standards for school executives to be measured by.  For the sake of answers, in this posting, I will look at what makes an effective administrator, according to teachers.

One of the best resources online, in my opinion, to get an idea about what qualities teachers are looking for in school administrators is the North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey.  This survey is administered every two years to teachers across the state of North Carolina to gather data about how teachers feel about their jobs, including school leadership, teacher development, facilities, instructional time, and other aspects of a teacher's job.  The questions on the survey that relate to school leadership give a strong indication of what teachers are looking for in effective school administrators. 

If you ask ten different teachers to tell you what makes an effective administrator, you will probably get ten different responses.  However, there are two common themes that you will likely find in their answers, and I want to highlight them here.

1. School administrators should be supportive.  Effective school administrators should always support their teachers, especially in front of students and parents.  If issues need to be addressed, they need to be addressed in private, and the school should always present a unified front to it's stakeholders.  In addition, school administrators should be supportive in their instructional leadership with their teachers.  Most teachers do not mind hearing criticism, and areas of weakness with their observation, it is what makes teachers become better educators.  However, if an administrator is going to tell a teacher where they are weak, most teachers I have spoken to want to hear specific ideas or strategies that can help them improve.

2. School administrators should be effective communicators.  Teachers want to know what is going on in their schools.  I have seen effective administrators send out daily or weekly e-mails to their staff letting them know what is on the calendar, what they need to be on the look-out for in the school, and what the weekly focus is.  One of the reasons effective communication is so important is that if administrators use e-mail, etc. to communicate dates and other important information to their teachers and staff, then staff meetings can be spent focusing on instructional strategies, and other items that can help improve student learning and performance.  Along the lines of communication, it is also important for administrators to communicate expectations, discipline outcomes and other necessary information to their teachers.  From my experience, teachers want to know why and how students were or were not disciplined.  Open communication about this and more helps for all stakeholders to be on the same page, and will give students a better learning environment overall.   

Are these characteristics the end all be all for effective school administrators?  No.  However, I believe that effective school administrators must possess these two characteristics, among others, in order to be successful.  In our era of testing and accountability, school administrators must be instructional leaders in order to be deemed successful.  Ultimately, test scores will be the measure used to determine whether or not administrators are effective.  However, behind the scenes, administrators must be adept at building a sense of efficacy and empowerment in their schools, and the themes I addressed above are surefire ways, in my opinion, to accomplish this.

References

NC Teaching Working Conditions Initiative. Digital image. NC Teaching Working Conditions Initiative. Web. June-July 12. <www.ncteachingconditions.org>.