Principals’ Analysis of Their Supervisory Styles and Teachers’ Analysis of Their Principals’ Supervisory Styles

Smalt, R. M. (1997). Measuring principals’ styles of supervision. EdD dissertation, Fordham University.

Comments:

The 67-item PASS and the 69-item TAPSS assess principals’ styles of supervision. The questionnaires, which were developed over a period of three years, were based on the work by McDonough (1991).

Sample:

Thirty principals and 40 teachers completed the draft questionnaires. Demographic data are reported for the 51 principals who completed the principals’ questionnaire as well as for the 56 teachers who completed the teachers’ questionnaire.

Reliability:

Alpha coefficients for the six subscales on the principals’ questionnaire were: 0.78 (purposes of supervision); 0.91 (structure and procedures during supervision in my school); 0.80 (supervisory practices and behaviors); 0.81 (promoting trusting relationships); 0.93 (the transformational supervisor); and 0.86 (nurturing reflective thinking in my school). The total alpha was 0.95. Alpha coefficients for the six subscales on the teachers’ questionnaire were: 0.94 (purposes of supervision); 0.92 (structure and procedures during supervision in my school); 0.74 (supervisory practices and behaviors); 0.89 (promoting trusting relationships); 0.96 (the transformational supervisor); and 0.60 (nurturing reflective thinking in my school). The total alpha was 0.98.

Validity:

Content validity was established through a panel of experts who modified and refined the questionnaires. Statements with at least 80 percent agreement were retained. In addition, there was strong to moderate literature support for all six subscales. Construct validity was examined by studying the intercorrelations of the six subscales. Evidence is also provided for discriminant validity (principals’ questionnaire).

Factor Analysis:

Although factor analytic procedures yielded six interpretable factors for both questionnaires, the item numbers vary. The six subscales for the principals’ questionnaire are: purposes of supervision (1–5); structure and procedures during supervision in my school (6–16); supervisory practices and behaviors (17–24); promoting trust- ing relationships (25–32); the transformational supervisor (33–54); and nurturing reflective thinking in my school (55–67). The six subscales for the teachers’ questionnaire are: purposes of supervision (1–8); structure and procedures during supervision in my school (9–19); supervisory practices and behaviors (20–29); promoting trusting relationships (30–39); the transformational supervisor (40–59); and nurturing reflective thinking in my school (60–69).

References

Principals’ Analysis of Their Supervisory Style

Part I: Purposes of Supervision

1. Teachers’ formal classroom observations are used to promote instructional improvement.
2. Teachers’ nonformal classroom observations are used to promote instructional improvement.
3. Teachers in my school generally speak positively about supervision.
4. I believe teachers benefit from my supervision.
5. Teachers believe the principal demonstrates supervisory leadership when he/she works with them during supervision rather than performing perfunctory duties.

Part II: Structure and Procedures during Supervision in My School

During the preconference, teachers in our building are encouraged to:

6. Clarify goals for their lessons.
7. Clarify objectives for their lessons.
8. Clarify teaching strategies for their lessons.
9. Clarify student achievement assessment techniques to be used during their lessons.
10. Clarify the data-gathering procedures to be used during their lessons.

During the postconference, teachers in our building are encouraged to:

11. Summarize formal and informal assessments from their lessons.
12. Recall data supporting formal and informal assessments from their lessons.
13. Compare what they had planned for their lessons with how the lessons actually went.
14. Infer relationships between their decisions and student achievement during their lessons.
15. Construct new ways to improve their lessons.
16. Reflect on the effects of the supervision process by suggesting improvements for the current supervisory process.

Part III: Supervisory Practices and Behaviors

As a principal, I:

17. Discuss the ground rules for the supervisory process in the preconference.
18. Attempt to respond favorably to teachers’ responses in the preconference.
19. Correct my own communication patterns after expressing a negative value judgment.
20. Demonstrate an acceptance of teachers’ ideas.
21. Rephrase, paraphrase, translate, and/or summarize teachers’ ideas.
22. Help teachers clarify instructional strategies.
23. Invite teachers to become more specific by requesting that they elaborate or rephrase their ideas.
24. Invite teachers to analyze information recorded during the lesson.

Part IV: Promoting Trusting Relationships

As a principal, I:

25. Express my own feelings honestly.
26. Follow through on commitments to teachers.
27. Accept responsibility for my actions.
28. Exhibit an interest in teachers as individuals beyond my role as principal.
29. Focus on teacher concerns by listening actively, reflectively, and empathetically.
30. Express willingness to support teachers’ ideas.
31. Support goals that are within teachers’ abilities.
32. React to teachers in an appropriate manner when they need support.

Part V: The Transformational Supervisor

As a principal, I encourage teachers to:

33. Understand in greater depth their thinking regarding all aspects of their lessons.
34. Be cognizant of their educational goals, objectives, and/or instructional strategies.
35. Identify possible relationships between particular teaching strategies and desired outcomes.
36. Construct and sequence plans to meet desired student outcomes.
37. Construct and sequence plans to meet desired teacher outcomes.
38. Recall student and teacher behavior during their formal observations.

39. Compare their preplanned instructional strategies with those performed during lessons.
40. Analyze the achievement of goals, objectives, and outcomes during the lessons.
41. Hypothesize differences in their goals, objectives, and outcomes if alternative educational strategies had been used in lessons.
42. Plan future strategies based on their evaluations of the lesson’s goals, objectives, and outcomes.

As a principal, I:

43. Identify educational resources needed to assist teachers in creating students’ successes.
44. Demonstrate consistent supervisory behavior when I work with teachers who have personality types and/or learning styles.
45. Hold high expectations for myself.
46. Hold high expectations for teachers.
47. Invite teachers to identify appropriate modifications of their behaviors as a result of the supervisory process.
48. Am increasingly aware of how my behavior affects teachers.
49. Am thorough in my approach to professional activities.
50. Am continually examining ways to improve the supervisory process.
51. Am continually examining ways to improve my supervisory performance.
52. Encourage teachers to experiment with creative educational strategies, teacher, and student behaviors.
53. Frequently hear from teachers about the spirit of cooperation that exists in our school.
54. Believe teachers and I are creating a learning environment that promotes success for all students.

Part VI: Nurturing Reflective Thinking in My School

55. When students pose unusual questions teachers ask, “What made you think of that?”
56. Teachers believe that textbooks do not have all the answers.
57. Teachers believe they should spend time on interesting student ideas rather than covering the content only.
58. Teachers encourage students to seek alternative solutions to problems.
59. Teachers encourage students to generate their own questions for and during class discussion.
60. Few questions posed during our teachers’ classes can be answered with short or one-word answers.
61. Students in our teachers’ classes spontaneously engage in critiquing each other’s thinking.
62. Students in our teachers’ classes relate subject matter to experiences in other subjects.
63. Teachers encourage students to be reflective.
64. Students often set goals and objectives for their own learning.
65. Students spend time working collaboratively to solve problems.
66. We talk about the nature of thinking.
67. We learn from colleagues by observing each other’s teaching.

Teachers’ Survey of Their Principals’ Supervisory Practices

Part I: Purposes of Supervision

1. The principal clearly agrees with teachers about the purposes of supervision.
2. The principal’s formal classroom observations are used to promote instructional improvement.
3. The principal’s nonformal classroom observations are used to promote instructional improvement.
4. The principal’s nonformal classroom observations are used for evaluation.
5. The principal decides which classes to visit during formal observations.
6. The principal generally speaks positively about supervision.
7. I believe I benefit from my principal’s supervision.
8. The principal demonstrates supervisory leadership when he/she works with teachers during supervision rather than performing perfunctory duties.

Part II: Structure and Procedures during Supervision in My School

During the preconference, the principal encourages me to:

9. Clarify goals for my lesson.
10. Clarify objectives for my lesson.
11. Clarify teaching strategies for my lesson.
12. Clarify student achievement assessment techniques to be used during my lesson.
13. Clarify the data-gathering procedures to be used during my lesson.
14. Summarize formal and informal assessments from my lesson.
15. Recall data supporting formal and informal assessments from my lesson.
16. Compare what I had planned for my lesson with how the lesson actually went.
17. Infer relationships between my decisions and student achievement during my lesson.
18. Construct new ways to improve my lesson.
19. Reflect on the effects of the supervision process by suggesting improvements for the current supervisory process.

Part III: Supervisory Practices and Behaviors

My principal:

20. Discusses the ground rules for the supervisory process in the preconference.
21. Attempts to respond favorably to my responses in the preconference.
22. Responds frequently to me in the form of praise.
23. Corrects his/her own communication patterns after expressing a negative value judgment.
24. Uses silence effectively to elicit a response from me.
25. Demonstrates an acceptance of my ideas.
26. Rephrases, paraphrases, translates, and/or summarizes my ideas.
27. Helps me clarify my instructional strategies.
28. Invites me to become more specific by requesting that I elaborate or rephrase my ideas.
29. Invites me to analyze information recorded during my lesson.

Part IV: Promoting Trusting Relationships

My principal:

30. Expresses his/her own feelings honestly.
31. Volunteers personal information about himself/herself.
32. Maintains confidentiality.
33. Follows through on commitments to me.
34. Accepts responsibility for his/her actions.
35. Exhibits an interest in me as an individual beyond his/her role as principal.
36. Focuses on my concerns by listening actively, reflectively, and empathetically.
37. Expresses a willingness to support my ideas.
38. Supports goals that are within my abilities.
39. Reacts to me in an appropriate manner when I need support.

Part V: The Transformational Supervisor

My principal encourages me to:

40. Understand in greater depth my thinking regarding all aspects of my lessons.
41. Be cognizant of my educational goals, objectives, and/or instructional strategies.
42. Identify possible relationships between my particular teaching strategies and desired outcomes.
43. Construct and sequence plans to meet desired student outcomes.
44. Construct and sequence plans to meet desired teacher outcomes.

45. Devise multiple methods to assess student learning.
46. Recall student and teacher behavior during my formal observations.
47. Compare my preplanned instructional strategies with those performed during lessons.
48. Analyze the achievement of goals, objectives, and outcomes during my lessons.
49. Hypothesize differences in my goals, objectives, and outcomes if alternative educational strategies had been used in my lessons.
50. Plan future strategies based on my evaluations of my lesson’s goals, objectives, and outcomes.

My principal:

51. Identifies educational resources needed to assist me in creating students’ successes.
52. Demonstrates consistent supervisory behavior when he/she works with me irrespective of my personality type and/ or learning style.
53. Holds high expectations for himself/herself.
54. Holds high expectations for me.
55. Invites me to identify appropriate modifications of my behaviors as a result of the supervisory process.
56. Is increasingly aware of how his/her behavior affects me.
57. Is thorough of his/her approach to professional activities.
58. Is continually examining ways to improve the supervisory process.
59. Is continually examining ways to improve his/her supervisory performance.

Part VI: Nurturing Reflective Thinking in My School

60. Encourages me to experiment with creative educational strategies, teacher, and student behaviors.
61. Frequently hears from teachers about the spirit of cooperation that exists in our school.
62. Believes he/she is creating with teachers a learning environment that promotes success for all students.
63. When students pose unusual questions I ask, “What made you think of that?”
64. I encourage students to seek alternative solutions to problems.
65. I encourage students to generate their own questions for and during class discussion.
66. When teaching, I usually move around the classroom.
67. I encourage students to be reflective.
68. Students spend time working collaboratively to solve problems.
69. We learn from colleagues by observing each other’s teaching.

Scoring:

Never = 1; Infrequently = 2; Frequently = 3; and Always = 4.