PurposeTo advance the study of principal time use (PTU), the purpose of this study is to report findings from a systematic review of PTU research. In addition to identifying common findings, this study also examined the supporting evidence and methodologies of PTU studies. From this dual approach, this study specified the evidence that supports claims about PTU, as well as identified areas requiring future examination.Design/methodology/approachA systematic reference review process considered 5,746 potential PTU manuscripts. The inclusion criteria identified 55 studies published between 1920 and 2015. This review synthesized data pertaining to the methodologies and findings of PTU research.FindingsFindings from studies conducted across decades indicated that principals worked extensive hours. Moreover, the workdays of principals consisted of brief and unrelated activities, most often focused on noninstructional tasks. Contrary to common hypotheses, studies indicated that PTU dedicated to administrative tasks exhibited positive correlations with educational outcomes. However, claims about PTU have been derived from samples overrepresented by large urban school districts and limited periods of observation.Practical implicationsFuture studies should implement diversified sampling strategies and extended observation periods. For principal preparation programs, the results indicated an opportunity for increased instruction on time management skills.Originality/valueThis systematic review identifies the overlooked history of the research and specifies the evidence that supports common claims about PTU, which provides empirically derived guidance for future PTU studies.

1983), school size (Hallinger & Murphy, 1985), and student body composition (Andrews, Soder & Jacoby, 1987) have influenced the nature of school leadership and have made research findings difficult to generalize (Leithwood et al., 2010).Despite theoretical claims of the importance of situational leadership, little empirical evidence has been published investigating the relationship between principal time use and school context. In studies exploring this relationship, researchers limited the sample of principals to a single school district in an attempt to provide evidence for a potential causal relationship. Instead of finding evidence that principal time led to changes in academic achievement, May et al. (2012) argued that the more plausible conclusion was that school context drove principals' activities and interactions. However, homogenous samples and abbreviated observational periods limited previous studies' ability to explore variance in principal time use.Although almost half of all United States school districts are located in rural communities (Aritomi, Coopersmith, & Gruber, 2009), principal time use researchers have overwhelmingly sampled principals from urban districts (May, Huff, & Goldring, 2012). Since 2000, 82% of published principal time use studies investigated the behaviors of urban principals (author, 2016). Furthermore, 29% of these studies sampled principals in large districts with over 100,000 students, including Chicago Public Schools (Spillane & Zuberi, 2009), Miami-Dade County Public Schools (Horng, Klasik, & Loeb, 2010) and Jefferson County Public Schools (Shellinger, 2006). Although there are more school districts in the United States with fewer than 100 students than districts with more than 100,000 students (author, 2015), researchers have neglected to investigate principal time use outside of large, urban districts.By enrolling a diverse sample of principals, the current study aimed to investigate whether school context predicted variation in principals' time. Taking into consideration schoollevel contextual factors, the study examined how allocation of time in leadership activities varied over the course of a principal's typical day and week. The purpose of this study was to investigate how principals allocated their time and to analyze the relationships between principal time use and school context, including prior academic outcomes, school level, locale, and student demographics. To achieve this purpose, I asked two research questions:1. How does a principal's allocation of time vary during the day and over a week? 2. How does school context predict variation within principals' allocation of time during the day and over a week?

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