Steve Pavlik

A great deal has been said and written in recent years regarding "effective schools"—"those schools which meet the emotional, social, physical, and academic needs of individual students" (Serow & Jackson, 1983:20-21). While no consensus exists among effective school research as to the salient characteristic of successful schools, one factor does surface in report after report—strong leadership. Weber (1971), in his pioneer study of effective schools, placed leadership at the top of his list of characteristics which distinguished such institutions. Sapone (1983:67), in interviewing 748 educators, found an "almost universal agreement of the need for schools to have a strong principal." Curran (1983:71), in placing the importance of the principal as being an active leader at the top of his list of 11 effective school factors, notes that "Leadership is the ultimate necessity for any successful group, organization, or endeavor." Edmonds, perhaps the foremost effective school researcher, also places strong leadership at the top of his list of effective school characteristics, concluding that without such an individual, "the disparate elements of good schooling can neither be brought together nor kept together" (1979:22). Austin (1979:12) adds that "a school that performs in unusually successful ways has a principal or a leader who is an exceptional person." Perhaps Hechinger best summarizes the matter when he states, "I have never seen a good school with a poor principal or a poor school with a good principal" (1981:V).

The purpose of this paper is to briefly explore the nature of effective administrative leadership, with emphasis on the principalship, as it applies to Indian schools. As a starting point, we will first examine a few general studies before moving on to sources which deal specifically with Indian education.

There are several ways to examine the connection between quality leadership and effective schools. One of these, as defined by Yukl (1982), is the "behavior approach" which seeks to identify the pattern of behavior and activities that are characteristic of effective school leaders. Edmonds (1979), for example, in attempting to identify urban schools that were instructional effective for poor and minority students, found that such schools were headed by administrators who:

Another researcher, Sweeny (1982), in synthesizing what he perceived to be the better studies on effective school leadership, found successful principals:

In yet another review of the extensive research literature regarding effective schools, Shoemaker and Fraser (1981), concluded that principals in such institutions provide:

We obviously know what administrators must do to be effective, but judging from the state of American education as revealed by a number of recent studies, it is just as obvious that most administrators are not doing these things. In the field of Indian education where few effective schools exist, the problem of quality leadership, or more directly the absence of quality leadership, is even greater.

My own research (1985) shows that the turnover rate of superintendents and principals in schools located on the Navajo reservation in northern Arizona, is double that of schools which border the reservation. I would guess that many other Indian schools face a similar situation. In education, the absence of continuity in leadership indicates personal failure for the individual in the administrative position, and little hope for progress for the school that has employed the administrator. The reasons for this high turnover rate, and subsequent cycle of failure, are many and varied. One factor is the nature of the position itself. Reservation schools pose a far greater challenge to educators than those schools located off the reservation. A second factor is that the vast majority of administrators lack the necessary characteristics and training to cope with the unique challenges of Indian education. Simply stated, they are not prepared, academically or mentally, for an administrative position in an Indian school.

It is my position that the characteristics cited earlier from the effective school research studies represent only the "common ground" factors of quality leadership—a body of foundation knowledge, skills, and activities that all administrators in any educational system must concern themselves with. An administrator in an Indian school must also be sensitive to an entire body of unique and special factors which equate to success in that particular educational environment.

While there are more similarities than there are differences between on and off reservation administrative positions, it is how an individual handles the differences which will ultimately determine if he or she will succeed or fail. Unfortunately, very little literature, and virtually no research exists which pertains to leadership in the field of Indian education. Foster and Boloz in two articles (1980) provide some general theory regarding the role of the Indian school administrator, as does Tippeconnic (1984) who goes into some detail regarding specific issues and problems. However, none of these sources address the issue of what type of an individual might prove successful in this role.

The best study regarding effective Indian school leadership is Barnhardt (1977) who notes that most administrators are trained to be managers of bureaucracies. The educational background they’ve received in curriculum, law, finance and budget, personnel management, and leadership techniques, enable them to function with a degree of success in a culturally determined environment characterized by likeness and control. In such an environment "the end product is explicit and agreed upon, and the process for achieving this is understood, stable, and uniformly predictable" (p. 58).

Such conditions, however, are seldom present in the realm of Indian education. Instead, Indian schools are characterized by the existence of a multitude of variables such as native culture and tradition, entangled community kin relationships, bilingualism or native lingualism, and often physical isolation, factors which most traditionally trained administrators perceive as threatening. Confronted with these variables, they respond by attempting to alter, reduce, or eliminate them in order to make things more "manageable." Their ultimate goal is to replicate the safe, comfortable, and from their perspective, superior, system from which they came from and were trained to work in. This however, cannot be done, and an attempt to do so usually proves to be self destructive to the administrator who tries. Faced with a multitude of very real problems, this administrator seldom realizes any meaningful level of success and by the end of the first year on the job is spending most of his or her time up-dating resumes, filling out employment applications and looking for a position in a "real" school.

Barnhardt goes on to call for the development of a new style school administrator, one "flexible, sensitive, and adaptive." Barnhardt believes that such an alternative style of leader should:

The above model represents a radical departure from how we usually perceive the role of a school administrator. The emphasis is on people and the individual we seek to train and employ to fill such a position must be people-oriented. In reality, the individual Barnhardt describes is an educator, not simply a manager.

How we identify such an individual poses a problem. Each of us is endowed with a certain set of psychological or personality characteristics we call traits. Trait research in the field of educational administration is scanty at best since we tend to put more emphasis on those attributes an individual has acquired through training. However, as Barnhardt points out, "the personality of the administrator and his modus operandi are inseparable and, therefore, give rise to the need for careful selection processes to match the person to the job" (p. 62).

What are some of these personality traits? Yukl (1982) maintains that in addition to certain technical skills, effective school administrators must possess self confidence, a need for socialized power and achievement, the desire to compete with peers, a high energy level, and an interest in oral persuasive activities. Wolcott (1973) in his classic study of one successful elementary principal found his subject to be gregarious in nature, problem-centered oriented, super dedicated, desire to perform exceedingly well, and want to tackle and contain problems. Goldhammer and colleagues (1971) in focusing on principals who head elementary schools which they describe as being "beacons of brilliance" (as opposed to "potholes of pestilence"), state such leaders are charismatic, enthusiastic, confident, service oriented, and hardworking.

While I agree with these lists of desirable traits, I again suggest that they only represent common ground characteristics, a starting point in our search for the successful Indian school administrator.

Unfortunately, I know of no research which exists pertaining to the personality traits of Indian school administrators. However, a number of studies have been written on the traits of successful teachers of Indian students, and these may provide us with some useful insight into the area of administration as well. The best of these is Kleinfeld (1975) who concludes that the most effective of these educators are the ones who exhibit "personal warmth" rather than "professional distance." I believe that this same principle applies to the Indian school administrator. A people-oriented approach as expressed by an honest smile, handshake, or well-timed pat on the back, will go a long way toward breaking down cultural barriers and establishing a non-threatening, and cooperative educational atmosphere. A positive personality is critical in working with "closed" Indian communities and native parents who might consider themselves as "outsiders" to the formal educational setting and process, and who are apprehensive and uncomfortable in dealing with the professional educator. Gratefully, the day is passed when Indian education was controlled by white outside professionals who had all the wrong answers. In today’s era of self-determination, administrators and teachers must involve the community and parents in the education of their children. This can be done only if the relationship between the school and community, and the educator and parent, is based on trust and mutual respect.

At this point I wish to close by offering a few personal suggestions as to what I feel to be the needed characteristics of a successful Indian school administrator. That which follows is a mixing of behavioral activities, skills, and personality traits. In addition to the special and/or unique qualities, I have also included a number of the general ones, many which are as much common sense as well as common ground items, that I feel to be particularly important.

In my opinion, to be an effective leader in an Indian school, an individual must:

If Indian education has been, and continues to be, a "national disgrace" as so labeled by the landmark Kennedy Report of 1969, a measure of that failure can be traced directly to an absence of leadership. As stated earlier in this paper, it is my opinion that the majority of administrators in the field of Indian education have not been, and continue not to be, academically or mentally prepared to handle the unique and challenging positions they have entered into. This is a situation we must address. We must identify, secure, and retain individuals who possess the "right stuff’ to be leaders of Indian schools. Part of this process must include establishing specialized training programs of substance to prepare people, especially, though not exclusively, Indian people to assume vital administrative positions. Until we do these things we will continue to see very few schools which serve Native American students listed among the ranks of those classified as being "effective" schools.

Austin, G.A. (1979). "Exemplary Schools and the Search for Effectiveness." Education Leadership, 37, 10-14.

Barnhardt, R. (1977). "Administrative Influences in Alaska Native Education." In R. Barnhardt (Ed.), Cross Cultural Issues in Alaskan Native Education, Fairbanks: Center for Cross-Cultural Studies.

Boloz, S. & Foster, C. (1980). "The Reservation Administrator." Journal of American Indian Education, 19, 24-28.

Curran, T.J. (1983). "Characteristics of the Effective School—A Starting Point for Self-Evaluation." NASSP Bulletin, 67, 71-74.

Edmonds, R. (1979). "Effective Schools for the Urban Poor." Educational Leadership, 37, 15-24.

Foster, C. & Boloz, S. (1980). "The BIA School Administrator and Effective Leadership." Journal of American Indian Education, 19, 24-28.

Goldhammer, K. and others (1971). Elementary School Principals and their Schools: Beacons of Brilliance and Potholes of Pestilence. Eugene, OR: Center for the Advanced Study of Educational Administration.

Hechinger, F. (1981). "Foreword." To J. Lipham. Effective School, Effective Principal. Reston, VA: NASSP.

Kleinfeld, J. (1975). "Effective Teachers of Eskimo and Indian Schools." School Review.

Pavlik, S. (1985). Issues and Developments in Navajo Education During the Peter McDonald Administrations, 1970-1982. Unpublished M.A. Thesis in American Indian Studies, University of Arizona.

Sapone, C.V. (1983). "A Research Review—Perceptions on Characteristics of Effective Schools." NASSP Bulletin, 67, 66-70.

Serow, R.C. & Jackson, H.L. (1983). "Using Standardized Test Data to Measure School Effectiveness." NASSP Bulletin, 67, 20-25.

Shoemaker, J. & Fraser, H.W. (1981). "What Principals Can Do: Some Implications from Studies on Effective Schooling." Phi Delta Kappan, 178-182.

Tippeconnic, J.W. (1984). "Public School Administrators on Indian Reservations." ERIC/CRESS Digest.

Sweeny, James (1982). "Research Synthesis on Effective School Leadership." Educational Leadership, 346-352.

Weber, G. (197 1). Inner-City Children Can be Taught to Read: Four Successful Schools. Washington, D.C.: Council for Basic Education.

Wolcott, Harry F. (1973). The Man in the Principal’s Office: An Ethnography. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Yukl, Gary (1982). "Managerial Leadership and the Effective Principal." The Effective Principal: A Research Summary, Reston, VA: NASSP, 1-13.