New Principals and Local School Councils: Walking the Line Between Administrative and Political Control

• In Event: Roundtable Session 90
  In Roundtable Session: On Becoming a School Principal: Novice Principals Make Sense of a New Role

Abstract

Purpose: Research on the principalship has emphasized the mediating role principals play as they navigate the demands of a range of stakeholders, including teachers, students, families, and community members (Deal & Peterson, 2000; Lortie, 2009; Spillane & Anderson, in progress). In this paper, we focus on the dynamic between the principal and community, as represented through local school councils (LSCs) tasked with local governance. Through an analysis of principal perceptions of and interactions with these LSCs, we develop an understanding of the multiple ways in which new principals manage and are managed by these local boards.

Perspectives: We bridge scholarship on school leadership and community engagement, highlighting the complex role new principals must learn as they negotiate their identities as community leaders and servants. Local governance has long been viewed as a central focus of community engagement in education, particularly in schools serving traditionally marginalized groups, leading many to advocate for more control placed in the hands of community members (Bryk et al., 1998; Noguera, 2001). In Chicago, LSCs were created in the late 1980s and given the power to select and evaluate the principal, oversee school improvement planning, and supervise the school budget (Bryk et al., 1998; Easton et al., 1993; Designs for Change, 2002). Given the heightened accountability level of recent years, these powers create a particularly unique situation for novice principals, who must negotiate their new roles as administrators in the context of significant political control by the LSCs. To understand these interactions, we apply Weiss’ (1990) framework of control in school organizations to our analysis of principal and LSC relations, with particular attention to the tension between political and administrative control.

Data and Methods: Our research is based on semi-structured interviews with 35 first-year principals who were hired in Chicago public elementary schools between 2009 and 2011. In addition to analyzing interviews from multiple time points, we also incorporated case study observations of three principals. Interview transcripts and fieldnotes were imported into NVivo and excerpts about LSCs were coded. Reports and data matrices were then generated to identify patterns within and across principals.

Results: We found a range of strategies for how new principals chose to interact with their LSCs. Some principals catered substantially to their LSCs, indicating responsiveness to political control. Others handpicked members so that the council’s actions largely “rubber-stamped” principal decisions, thereby exercising administrative control. Still other principals balanced control by publicly cooperating with the LSC while discreetly limiting the information that he or she shared with the council. Additionally, we found that principal sentiments about LSCs ranged from frustration that members lacked the knowledge necessary for making critical school decisions to appreciation for the support and resources provided by LSCs.

Significance: This paper highlights the tensions between political and administrative control inherent in initiatives aimed at promoting local governance in schools. Our findings can help policymakers redesign these initiatives to better promote unified organizations characterized by both meaningful community engagement and strong school leadership.

Authors

• Linda C. Lee, Northwestern University

• Rebecca Jane Lowenhaupt, Boston College

• Allison W. Kenney, Northwestern University