NASSP Bulletin

Aware that little information exists about why principals leave their jobs, NASSP during the spring of 1979 conducted a study of attrition in the principalship. From a random selection of 4,766 secondary school principals, just under 10 percent of them (446) indicated they had decided to leave the principalship in 1979.

The role of the principal is a complex one, tied to shifts in the school population and changing public demands. The author takes a look at the future of the principalship.

The following fairy tale is, the author notes, a light-hearted offering to all principals who go through the yearly frustrations of budget development.

Outlined here are the major objectives and components of Zero- Base Budgeting, along with suggested steps for implementing key aspects of ZBB in schools.

Knowing how to interview may be the most important skill an administrator can have in selecting staff, argues this principal, who urges readers here to conduct structured interviews. He describes how and offers sample questions.

The legal review presented in this article, the writer says, should help administrators feel more comfortable with the task of formally evaluating teachers. He believes the practice of giving reasons for terminating employees will enhance the credibility of administrators.

Minimum competency testing programs, as currently constructed, may discriminate, or have the effect of discriminating against handicapped students. Action must be taken, this writer warns, to assure that such programs do not emerge as an exclusionary practice that will require years to overcome.

The implications of the Individualized Educational Program, the backbone of P.L. 94-142, are many, says this principal, who describes the procedu res an d techniques that are necessary to be in compliance with the regulations of the Handicapped Children's Act.

School administrators cannot be expected to do more and more with less and less, believe these educators, who suggest that many of the problems facing secondary schools today can be solved by negotiating learning contracts with students. They present here a model for shared accountability.

Effective public relations programs are needed to combat the tide of criticism directed against our educational programs, this author warns. Outlined here are some competencies necessary to implement such programs.

This article, which states the case for participatory learning experiences, is adapted, in part, from the Report of the National Commission on Youth, The Transition of Youth to Adulthood: A Bridge Too Long. ¹

What follows is a response to an article published in the May 1979 Bulletin which, this writer feels, "accentuated literature with a capital 'L'." Presented here is the opposing case for the systematic development of language skills.

Effective school security systems must be carefully coordinated and planned to meet the specific needs of the individual school, say these writers, who review some of the systems and approaches in use today.

How important is it that our youth develop good study skills? What approaches to developing good study skills have been taken in the past? Do better approaches exist? These and other related questions are answered on the following pages.

If you're an administrator who doesn't now have an adequate plan for telling the public what's happening in the schools, you will want to read this article carefully. The author describes the program used successfully at Hillcrest High School while he was its principal.

The perceptions of one group of principals about the news media may not be representative of principals in general, admits this writer, who believes nevertheless that such perceptions should be noted.