Successful operation of an educational institution requires competent administrators. Education administrators provide instructional leadership and manage the day-to-day activities in schools, preschools, day care centers, and colleges and universities. They also direct the educational programs of businesses, correctional institutions, museums, and job training and community service organizations.
Education administrators set educational standards and goals and establish the policies and procedures to achieve them. They also supervise managers, support staff, teachers, counselors, librarians, coaches, and other employees. They develop academic programs, monitor students' educational progress, train and motivate teachers and other staff, manage career counseling and other student services, administer recordkeeping, prepare budgets, and perform many other duties. They also handle relations with parents, prospective and current students, employers, and the community. In an organization such as a small day care center, one administrator may handle all these functions. In universities or large school systems, responsibilities are divided among many administrators, each with a specific function.
Educational administrators who manage elementary, middle, and secondary schools are called principals. They set the academic tone and actively work with teachers to develop and maintain high curriculum standards, develop mission statements, and set performance goals and objectives. Principals confer with staff to advise, explain, or answer procedural questions. They hire, evaluate, and help improve the skills of teachers and other staff. They visit classrooms, observe teaching methods, review instructional objectives, and examine learning materials. Principals must use clear, objective guidelines for teacher appraisals, because pay often is based on performance ratings.
Principals also meet and interact with other administrators, students, parents, and representatives of community organizations. Decision-making authority has increasingly shifted from school district central offices to individual schools. School principals have greater flexibility in setting school policies and goals, but when making administrative decisions they must pay attention to the concerns of parents, teachers, and other members of the community.
Preparing budgets and reports on various subjects, including finances and attendance, and overseeing the requisition and allocation of supplies also is an important responsibility of principals. As school budgets become tighter, many principals have become more involved in public relations and fundraising to secure financial support for their schools from local businesses and the community.
Principals must take an active role to ensure that students meet national, State, and local academic standards. Many principals develop partnerships with local businesses and school-to-work transition programs for students. Increasingly, principals must be sensitive to the needs of the rising number of non-English speaking and culturally diverse student body. In some areas, growing enrollments also are a cause for concern because they lead to overcrowding at many schools. When addressing problems of inadequate resources, administrators serve as advocates for the building of new schools or the repair of existing ones. During summer months, principals are responsible for planning for the upcoming year, overseeing summer school, participating in workshops for teachers and administrators, supervising building repairs and improvements, and working to make sure the school has adequate staff for the school year.
Schools continue to be involved with students' emotional welfare as well as their academic achievement. As a result, principals face responsibilities outside the academic realm. For example, many schools have growing numbers of students from dual-income and single-parent families or students who are themselves teenage parents. To support these students and their families, some schools have established before- and after-school childcare programs or family resource centers, which also may offer parenting classes and social service referrals. With the help of community organizations, some principals have established programs to combat increases in crime, drug and alcohol abuse, and sexually transmitted diseases among students.
Assistant principals aid the principal in the overall administration of the school. Some assistant principals hold this position for several years, during which time they prepare for advancement to principal; others are assistant principals throughout their careers. They are primarily responsible for scheduling student classes, ordering textbooks and supplies, and coordinating transportation, custodial, cafeteria, and other support services. They usually handle student discipline and attendance problems, social and recreational programs, and health and safety matters. They also may counsel students on personal, educational, or vocational matters. With the advent of site-based management, assistant principals are playing a greater role in ensuring the academic success of students by helping to develop new curriculums, evaluating teachers, and dealing with school-community relations—responsibilities previously assumed solely by the principal. The number of assistant principals that a school employs may vary, depending on the number of students.
Administrators in school district central offices oversee public schools under their jurisdiction. This group includes those who direct subject-area programs such as English, music, vocational education, special education, and mathematics. They supervise instructional coordinators and curriculum specialists, and work with them to evaluate curriculums and teaching techniques and improve them. Administrators also may oversee career counseling programs and testing that measures students' abilities and helps to place them in appropriate classes. Others may also direct programs such as school psychology, athletics, curriculum and instruction, and professional development. With site-based management, administrators have transferred primary responsibility for many of these programs to the principals, assistant principals, teachers, instructional coordinators, and other staff in the schools.
In preschools and childcare centers, which are usually much smaller than other educational institutions, the director or supervisor of the school or center often serves as the sole administrator. Their job is similar to that of other school administrators in that they oversee daily activities and operation of the schools, hire and develop staff, and make sure that the school meets required regulations and educational standards.
In colleges and universities, provosts, also known as chief academic officers, assist presidents, make faculty appointments and tenure decisions, develop budgets, and establish academic policies and programs. With the assistance of academic deans and deans of faculty, they also direct and coordinate the activities of deans of individual colleges and chairpersons of academic departments. Fundraising is the chief responsibility of the director of development and also is becoming an essential part of the job for all administrators.
College or university department heads or chairpersons are in charge of departments that specialize in particular fields of study, such as English, biological science, or mathematics. In addition to teaching, they coordinate schedules of classes and teaching assignments; propose budgets; recruit, interview, and hire applicants for teaching positions; evaluate faculty members; encourage faculty development; serve on committees; and perform other administrative duties. In overseeing their departments, chairpersons must consider and balance the concerns of faculty, administrators, and students.
Higher education administrators also direct and coordinate the provision of student services. Vice presidents of student affairs or student life, deans of students, and directors of student services may direct and coordinate admissions, foreign student services, health and counseling services, career services, financial aid, and housing and residential life, as well as social, recreational, and related programs. In small colleges, they may counsel students. In larger colleges and universities, separate administrators may handle each of these services. Registrars are custodians of students' records. They register students, record grades, prepare student transcripts, evaluate academic records, assess and collect tuition and fees, plan and implement commencement, oversee the preparation of college catalogs and schedules of classes, and analyze enrollment and demographic statistics. Directors of admissions manage the process of recruiting, evaluating, and admitting students, and work closely with financial aid directors, who oversee scholarship, fellowship, and loan programs. Registrars and admissions officers at most institutions need computer skills because they use electronic student information systems. For example, for those whose institutions present college catalogs, schedules, and other information on the Internet, knowledge of online resources, imaging, and other computer skills is important. Athletic directors plan and direct intramural and intercollegiate athletic activities, seeing to publicity for athletic events, preparation of budgets, and supervision of coaches. Other increasingly important administrators direct public relations, distance learning, and technology.
Work environment. Education administrators hold leadership positions with significant responsibility. Most find working with students extremely rewarding, but as the responsibilities of administrators have increased in recent years, so has the stress. Coordinating and interacting with faculty, parents, students, community members, business leaders, and State and local policymakers can be fast-paced and stimulating, but also stressful and demanding. Principals and assistant principals, whose varied duties include discipline, may find working with difficult students to be challenging. They are also increasingly being held accountable for ensuring that their schools meet recently imposed State and Federal guidelines for student performance and teacher qualifications.
About 1 in 3 education administrators work more than 40 hours a week and often supervise school activities at night and on weekends. Most administrators work year round, although some work only during the academic year.
| 1. | Review and approve new programs, or recommend modifications to existing programs, submitting program proposals for school board approval as necessary. |
| 2. | Prepare, maintain, or oversee the preparation and maintenance of attendance, activity, planning, or personnel reports and records. |
| 3. | Confer with parents and staff to discuss educational activities, policies, and student behavioral or learning problems. |
| 4. | Prepare and submit budget requests and recommendations, or grant proposals to solicit program funding. |
| 5. | Direct and coordinate school maintenance services and the use of school facilities. |
| 6. | Counsel and provide guidance to students regarding personal, academic, vocational, or behavioral issues. |
| 7. | Organize and direct committees of specialists, volunteers, and staff to provide technical and advisory assistance for programs. |
| 8. | Teach classes or courses to students. |
| 9. | Advocate for new schools to be built, or for existing facilities to be repaired or remodeled. |
| 10. | Plan and develop instructional methods and content for educational, vocational, or student activity programs. |
| 11. | Develop partnerships with businesses, communities, and other organizations to help meet identified educational needs and to provide school-to-work programs. |
| 12. | Direct and coordinate activities of teachers, administrators, and support staff at schools, public agencies, and institutions. |
| 13. | Evaluate curricula, teaching methods, and programs to determine their effectiveness, efficiency, and utilization, and to ensure that school activities comply with federal, state, and local regulations. |
| 14. | Set educational standards and goals, and help establish policies and procedures to carry them out. |
| 15. | Recruit, hire, train, and evaluate primary and supplemental staff. |
| 16. | Enforce discipline and attendance rules. |
| 17. | Observe teaching methods and examine learning materials to evaluate and standardize curricula and teaching techniques, and to determine areas where improvement is needed. |
| 18. | Establish, coordinate, and oversee particular programs across school districts, such as programs to evaluate student academic achievement. |
| 19. | Review and interpret government codes, and develop programs to ensure adherence to codes and facility safety, security, and maintenance. |
| 20. | Determine allocations of funds for staff, supplies, materials, and equipment, and authorize purchases. |
| 21. | Write articles, manuals, and other publications, and assist in the distribution of promotional literature about facilities and programs. |
| 22. | Recommend personnel actions related to programs and services. |
| 23. | Collaborate with teachers to develop and maintain curriculum standards, develop mission statements, and set performance goals and objectives. |
| 24. | Collect and analyze survey data, regulatory information, and data on demographic and employment trends to forecast enrollment patterns and curriculum change needs. |
| 25. | Determine the scope of educational program offerings, and prepare drafts of course schedules and descriptions to estimate staffing and facility requirements. |
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