Principal of a school in the changing environment: challenges and management strategies

Full text in Russian (pdf)

No. 2 (91), 2016 Author: N. Bysik, N. Yevstigneeva,  N. Kozina, S. Kosaretskiy, M. Pinskaya In 2014 the National Research University – Higher School of Economics jointly with the Levada Analytical Center continued the series of sociological surveys of heads of secondary general education schools in the framework of monitoring of education markets and organizations conducted by the Higher School of Economics since 2002.

In 2014 the National Research University – Higher School of Economics jointly with the Levada Analytical Center continued the series of sociological surveys of heads of secondary general education schools in the framework of monitoring of education markets and organizations conducted by the Higher School of Economics since 2002.

The survey was focused on the following thematic areas: general information about principals of secondary general education schools, professional priorities and duties of a principal, including the pedagogical management, assessment of teachers’ work by a principal, selection of a school by parents.

The changes that have taken place during the past two years in different areas of activity of education institutions and the challenges that have emerged in connection with the increase of the number of school-age children were analyzed. Primarily it is shortage of premises sufficient to provide a one-shift work of schools and teacher shortage. The analysis also touched upon a perspective of development of network and distant forms of organizing the educational process and fulfillment of the state and municipal task.

Upon completion of the survey of principals of secondary general education institutions an analysis of the obtained data was performed and an information bulletin presenting the results of the survey was prepared.

The sample of secondary general education institutions was stratified according to the following parameters:

–     administrative and geographic;

–     type of locality;

–     type of educational institution (for general education institutions);

–     form of property;

–     target groups (elite and integrated schools).

The sample of the survey included respondents living in towns, urban-type settlements and villages from 64 regions of the Russian Federation (including Moscow). The total number of heads of education institutions who participated in the survey was 1292.

Two groups of schools were specified as target groups. The first group included elite schools which constitute 30%. The second group of schools included combined or aggregated schools accounted for 21% of the sample.

The survey showed that the managerial strategies of principals of educational organizations which differ in contextual characteristics (by type of territory, by educational program, etc.) are rather close, although the challenges facing them vary as far as their acuteness is concerned. 

The structure of priorities of all principals to a greater extent is oriented towards financial management and overall management than towards the teacher leadership. The main priorities for school heads are the budget management and the general assessment of the school quality. The managing of the curriculum and instruction are not in the focus of the principals’ attention, particularly of those who manage educational complexes.

The main tendencies in assessments by school principals concerning the factors that have influence on choosing an education institution for their child by parents are similar for actually all categories of the surveyed heads, except for non-state schools. One can specify only that for Moscow principals the results of the Unified State Exam displayed by school leavers are more important than for all the rest. It should be noted also that rural principals evaluate lower than others the effect of one characteristic of a school or another on the parents’ choice, this being natural for a lack of a competition of rural schools and a lack of options for choosing a school by parents.

However the principals’ perception differs from how the parents select a school in the real life.

The survey showed that schools had not at all exhausted the possibilities of overcoming the growing problems related with the demographic changes and the increasing enrolment of pupils. The main resource is still modern forms of organizing a teaching process, including the distant and network forms. However a considerable part of schools already use these options.

A positive characteristic is the positive change in some spheres of school life and school activities during the past two years. First of all, these are the improvement of results of the Unified State Exams (in the end of graduation year) and State Final Testing (in the end of the 9^th year of school), growth of parents’ involvement and teachers’ cooperation.

Unfortunately, there is no positive change in the financial indicators as compared with the 2013-2014 academic year.

Prepared by Natalia Kozina