Organizational and professional socialization: its impact on the performance of new administrators

Abstract

While interest in holding administrators accountable for school effectiveness has increased over the past decade, the quality of evaluation systems and corresponding assessments of their performance has not. Few empirical studies have focused on evaluating the performance of new administrators as they carry out important functions of their role, so little is known about the process of socialization and how it may affect the beginning administrator's job performance. The purpose of this study was to propose and test a model of socialization factors that may be related to the evaluation of new elementary and secondary assistant principals' job performance. These factors were grouped into three major sets: individual demographics, professional socialization (i.e., type of administrative preparation), and organizational socialization (e.g., school context).Results of the LISREL covariance structure analysis supported the proposed theoretical model, indicating that organizational socialization directly affected administrative performance. In contrast, the effect of professional socialization on performance was mostly indirect. Moreover, independent of socialization, women in the study were rated as more effective than men. While most of the variation in performance observed was very likely due to individual differences, the findings suggest the importance of considering how an individual is socialized into the profession and the specific school when appraising performance.Recent demands calling for increased educational accountability have focused attention on school administrators' role in providing leadership to improve school effectiveness and student outcomes. With growing attention to accountability, personnel evaluation has become one strategy utilized in efforts to improve schools. For example, Snyder and Ebmeier (1992) indicate that between the mid-1970s and the mid-1980s state-mandated principal evaluation increased from 9 to 27 states. By the late 1980s, it was estimated that 75 percent of the states required some type of principal evaluation (Peters and Bagenstos, 1988).

A Conceptual Model of Professional Socialization within Student Affairs Graduate Preparation Programs

“…In effect, the structure of socialization signals the extent to which newcomers have agency to shape their work and their identities (Van Maanen & Schein, 1979). Moreover, it has implications for perceptions of organizational fit (Cooper-Thomas, van Vianen, & Anderson, 2004), commitment to the field (Allen & Meyer 1990), and job performance (Heck, 1995).…”

Effective Improvement of Talents Management for Continuing of Managing Government

“…At this point, it will force people to learn about the attitudes and social norms, which are important factors in making them recognize their role and to complete their work. As a result, the research found that employees who receive social transfers from a quality organization will provide an efficient performance in both the quality of work and habits (Heck, 1995;Ostroff & Kozlowski, 1993) and job satisfaction, for the other factors that influence the workplace climate and some personal factors that are experienced before they become members of the organization. (Muchinsky, 2003) Integrated with the concept of quality in the management of international manpower (Schuler & Tarique, 2010), 360-degree assessment methods are used to gather data from multiple providers groups.…”

School Leader Professional Socialization: The Contribution of Focused Observations

“…Regardless, commentators on the state of school leadership have argued that principal preparation programs do not meet current expectations for developing school leaders who can engage their schools in reforms that will enable students to meet the demands of a global economy, rapidly changing technology, and increasingly diverse societies (e.g., Adams & Copland, 2005;Crow, 2006). Heck (1995) argues that one reason for this lack of preparedness is that pre-service experiences are inadequate for the professional socialization and consequent identity development that a change-oriented leader needs. In their work on the difficulties that new school leaders must address, Daresh and Playko (1994) cited role clarification, or an understanding of their new roles and who they are in relation to these expectations, as the most important component of identity development.…”