How Principals in Public and Private Schools Use Their Time: 2011-12. Stats in Brief. NCES 2018-054
Author: Hoyer, Kathleen Mulvaney
Date: 2017-12-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Principals,Public Schools,Private Schools,Time Management,Elementary Secondary Education,National Surveys,Time on Task,School Administration,Human Resources,School Policy,Reports,Budgets,Curriculum Development,Lesson Plans,Observation,Mentors,Coaching (Performance),Discipline,Academic Advising,Parent School Relationship,Institutional Characteristics,Administrator Characteristics,Administrator Role,Statistical Analysis

The data in this brief come from the nationally representative 2011-12 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) Public and Private School Principal Data Files and the Public and Private School Data Files. Principals who participated in SASS provided information about the percentage of time spent on various tasks by answering the question: &quot;On average throughout the school year, what percentage of time do you estimate that you spend on the following tasks in this school?: (1) Internal administrative tasks, including human resource/ personnel issues, regulations, reports, school budget; (2) Curriculum and teaching-related tasks, including teaching, lesson preparation, classroom observations, mentoring teachers; (3) Student interactions, including discipline and academic guidance; (4) Parent interactions, including formal and informal interactions; and (5) Other.&quot; This brief examines the mean (average) percentage of time that principals reported spending on these activities in the 2011-12 school year, both overall and by selected school, staffing, and principal characteristics. All estimates presented in the text are averages of the percentages of time that principals reported spending on the activities. The school characteristics examined are school classification (for public, traditional public or charter; for private, Catholic, other religious, and nonsectarian), community type (city, suburb, town, and rural), school level (primary, middle, high, and combined), minority student composition (percent minority), and poverty level (measured as the percentage of K-12 students approved for free or reduced-price lunch). The staffing characteristics examined are the number of teachers in the school (fewer than 25, 25-50, or more than 50), number of vice/assistant principals (none, one, or two or more), number of instructional coordinators and supervisors (none or at least one), number of school/guidance counselors (none or at least one), number of social workers (none or at least one), number of psychologists (none or at least one), and number of secretaries and other clerical support staff (none, one, or two or more). The principal characteristics examined are the principal's sex, age, race/ethnicity, highest degree earned, years of teaching experience, and administration certificate status. The differences discussed in the text of this brief are statistically significant at the p &lt; 0.05 level to ensure that they are larger than might be expected due to sampling variation. No adjustments were made for multiple comparisons. For more information about significance tests as well as the data, measures, and methods used in this brief, please see the Methodology and Technical Notes at the end of the report.