0.4 Taylor, r., touchton, d., & Acker-hocevar, m. (october 2011).

Education leadership review, volume 12, number 2 (october 2011)

NCPEA Education Leadership Review is a nationally refereed journal published two times a year, in Winter (April), and Fall (October) by the National Council of Professors ofEducational Administration. Editor: Kenneth Lane, Southeastern Louisiana University; Assistant Editor: Gerard Babo, Seton Hall University; Founding Editor: Theodore Creighton, Virginia Tech.

Principals’ decision-making: the influence of accountability

After implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), the University Council of Educational Administration (UCEA) sponsored national superintendent and principal focus group research, Voices 3, from 2002 through 2005. This article addressed findings related to principals’ decision-making post NCLB. Authors found two consistent decision-making themes: factors that affected decision-making and leadership in decision-making. Principals’ common commitment to doing what was best for students’ learning guided their decision-making behaviors.

Conceptual framework

Principals’ work is characterized by ambiguity, fast pace, and a constant stream of decisions (Weick, 1983). They are judging, thinking, and making decisions as they go about their daily work (Weick, 1983). Decisions are often intuitive or come from skills developed in context (Schön, 1983). Shared decision-making has been recognized as having benefits for better outcomes, better decision implementation, and a higher level of commitment. However, the choice about whether to give others a voice is in the hands of the leaders (Schoorman&Acker-Hocevar, 2010). Tannenbaum and Schmidt (1973) provided a continuum for a principal’s decision-making which recognized the value of participation and challenges in determining the level of shared decision-making—knowledge of the issue and time required. The Vroom and Yetton (1973) leadership style model depicted behaviors in decision-making from autocratic to participatory; the revised model assisted leaders in selecting the best strategy for a given context (Vroom, Yetton,&Jago, 1988).