School Principal Succession and Teachers on Successor Effectiveness

Abstract

Consistent with a long-standing tradition of research on schools as social systems, this study examines the relationship between the conditions of principal succession and teachers’ perceptions of the successor's effectiveness. Using a sample of seventy-three elementary and secondary school principals and 3,067 teachers, its intent is to stimulate exploration of principal succession through the development of a series of tentative propositions. Study findings suggest that effective successors: inspire teacher confidence early; are associated with predecessors that teachers see as relatively weak; and are not vulnerable to negative comparisons with the predecessor. Further, and within the context of the social-systems framework, this study suggests that teachers’ assessments of successor effectiveness are related to the degree to which the successor's style and policies disrupt those features of the school organization which promote systemic predictability for organizational participants.