Doctoral Dissertations

John L. Keedy

Date of Award

8-1982

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Major

Educational Administration and Supervision

Major Professor

C. M. Achilles

Committee Members

Russell L. French

Abstract

Educational literature indicates that a principal's contribution to school effectiveness is vital. The literature identifies norm setting as principal behavior consistently exhibited in effective schools. What the principal does in setting norms was used as this study's definition of norm setting. How the principal sets norms became this study's purpose.

Based on school effectiveness defined by the Dyer model, six elementary schools were selected for case study. Data on principal norm-setting behavior were collected through direct observation, the open-ended question, a norm checklist, and a questionnaire. The analyses and findings for the three research questions follow.

How Do Principals Set Norms?

Behaviors collected from principals and teachers were categorized separately into 13 ways principals set norms.

For within-school analysis, any category having four or more behaviors collected from each principal was illustrated through examples drawn from the data (n = 295) . With teacher perceptions of principal behavior n = 151 ) , this cutoff was three or more behaviors.

For among-schools analysis, any category used by at least four principals was considered instrumental in norm setting. The four categories were Human Relations, Resource Provider, Authority of Position, and Modeling.

What Norms Do These Principals Use?

The Norm Checklist was developed from the literature. Principals and teachers checked norms n = 35 ) they perceived were occurring in their schools. Norms were classified into six groupings for analysis. Using commonality of agreement, three of these groupings were analyzed as used by the six schools: professional standards for teachers, high learning expectations for students, and principal obligations to teachers. (School climate had among-schools agreement but not between-group agreement.)

How Is Role Efficiency Related to Norm Setting?

The literature has defined role efficiency as a reciprocal exchange system: The principal meets teacher needs in exchange for teacher compliance to norms set by the principal. Principals were asked how role efficiency related to norm setting. Teacher response to two sets of norms was compared: principal's obligations to teachers and norms perceived as set by the principal exclusive of the Norm Checklist. Using commonality of agreement, five of the six principals were found to use role efficiency in setting norms.

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