Dr. Nancy Biggs

The purpose of this study was to examine (1) the information and assistance needed and the induction offerings for first-year elementary principals in schools districts serving 14,000 to 58,000 students; (2) the relationships between needed and provided induction offerings; and (3) the suggested topics for inclusion in an induction program that would meet the indentified needs of new elementary principals in multi-building districts. Data for the study were obtained through a questionnaire mailed to new elementary principals in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota. The 76 items on the questionnaire were grouped into three strands: Leadership Proficiencies, Supervisory Proficiencies, and Administrative/Management Proficiencies. Twenty-nine, or 64.4 percent, of the questionnaires were returned. Data analyses were conducted and reported in tables showing descriptive statistics and correlations. The information and assistance provided new elementary principals varied widely among districts. New elementary principals rated information from the Leadership and Supervisory strands as critical to receive during the induction process. Districts provided the greatest amount of information to new principals from the Administrative/Management strand, followed closely by information from the Supervisory strand. Information was rarely given on topics in the Leadership strand during the induction process. A comparison of the level of need for information about a proficiency to the level of support provided by the district, identified topics not covered to the extent needed by elementary principals during induction. Proficiencies from the Leadership strand were those most likely to be left out of the induction program and those that most needed to be included in the program. An adequate amount of information was provided about the Supervisory and the Administrative/Management strands, indicating that the level of attention to those topics should remain the same for future induction programs. Specific recommendations for planning induction programs for elementary principals were presented.