A Review of the Literature Regarding the Roles and Responsibilities of Assistant Principals [microform] / A. June Scoggins and Harold L. Bishop

The role of the assistant principal, complete with duties and responsibilities, has not yet been successfully defined. Although assistant principals are often limited to responsibilities such as discipline or bus duty, their role should encompass much more. Assistant principals want to be more than disciplinarians; they want to be included in the instructional operations and have a set of respectable responsibilities. This chapter reviews the literature and finds numerous duties and responsibilities carried out by assistant principals. Although no precise list of duties exists, 26 of the authors related 20 duties common to the assistant principal, including discipline, attendance, student activities, athletics, community agencies, master schedules, principal substitute, building operations, budget, reports, transportation, curriculum, communications, cafeteria, school calendar, and locks and lockers. According to the literature, it is impossible for one person to carry out all these duties and responsibilities. The literature further shows that the principal largely determines the assistant principal's job assignments. Although the assistant principal position is considered by many to be the stepping stone to the principalship, it is also considered by others to be a bona fide administrative career position in itself. A summary table is included. Contains 75 references. (MLH)