School districts face a hard reality these days: There are often too few applicants to make ideal choices in hiring principals. A 1998 survey commissioned by the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the National Association of Secondary School Principals reflected this reality. Approximately half of the school districts surveyed reported a shortage of applicants for K–12 administrative positions they were trying to fill at all grade levels and in rural, suburban, and urban schools.
This situation leaves many districts with the choice of either advertising administrative positions for which few applicants apply and trusting to luck, or cultivating good leaders from within. The Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD) in Orange County, California, has chosen the latter route, with great success. Our Teaching Assistant Principal (TAP) program gives teachers who want to explore the option of becoming principals experience taking on administrative duties within the school culture that they are likely to someday lead. Of the 53 K–12 principals working in CUSD during the 2004–2005 school year, 24 began their administrative career by working as TAPs, and only 10 were hired from outside the district.
How We Grow Our Own Leaders
Teachers may be deterred from pursuing administration as a career by the conditions they see principals face: insufficient pay, long hours on the job, and a stressful work climate. Teachers who aspire to become administrators in spite of these challenges want experiences that immerse them in the realities of administrative work and help them prepare for success. The TAP position provides potential administrators with a wealth of such experiences.
When Capistrano initiated the TAP program in the late 1970s, our goal was to provide a pool of administrative candidates for the rapidly growing district. The district's current senior deputy superintendent, Austin Buffum, describes how the program's goal has evolved:In the very early days, it was simply difficult to find administrators willing to come “all the way down” to South Orange County. A secondary goal, which has become even more important over the years, is to provide on-the-job experiences for those seeking to become administrators, so they understand the culture and structure of the district immediately upon assuming their administrative roles.
Working as a TAP allows teachers a chance to try on the role of administrator. In other districts, teachers may spend a lot of time and money obtaining their administrative credentials only to find, once they get their first administrative position, that being a principal doesn't suit them. The TAP program enables the district to train administrators in a way consistent with the philosophy of the school board and superintendent and to promote into leadership roles people who understand the culture and structure of the district.
Any teacher in CUSD who is interested in moving into an administrative role—and who has begun coursework toward an advanced degree in education administration—may apply to serve as an elementary or secondary TAP, but principals often identify teachers with potential and suggest that they apply. Each school site is budgeted for a certain number of TAPs, depending on enrollment. While maintaining their roles as classroom teachers, TAPs are given administrative duties within their school, under the supervision of other site administrators. “TAP Is,” who are still pursuing coursework for their administrative credential, are paid a small stipend of $1,000 a year; “TAP IIs,” who have earned the credential, receive $2,000 a year.
Many TAPs' responsibilities focus on such student discipline issues as bus behavior, tardiness, and dress codes. TAPs also facilitate student study team meetings or Individualized Education Plan meetings for students with disabilities. TAPs perform leadership tasks specific to their schools, such as organizing school schedules, developing curriculum, or serving on the school's leadership team. TAP IIs can observe and formally evaluate school staff.
Beyond some job shadowing, TAPs are not given much training before they take on administrative duties. They learn by doing and through interactions with the administrators supervising them. They also attend any professional development for administrators that the school district offers. Many TAPs serve in the role for several years, and virtually all of them eventually become principals or assistant principals, in Capistrano or elsewhere.
A Day in the Life
A good way to get a sense of how the TAP program operates in Capistrano schools is to look at a TAP's typical day. We are both TAPs in our schools, with similar hectic schedules. Here's what a regular day is like for Maggie.
Maggie arrives at Ladera Ranch Middle School at 7:30 a.m. She uses the time before buses arrive to log discipline referrals into the school network and set up her science lab for the day. She is in charge of any student study team meetings scheduled before school, so she often rushes off to facilitate a meeting by about 7:50. If there are no meetings scheduled, Maggie meets the school buses as they arrive and supervises students entering school, checking for dress code issues and making sure students head to class without loitering. She checks in with the bus drivers to collect any discipline referrals for students who misbehaved on the bus.
Maggie's first-period science class starts at 8:12. After teaching two classes, she has a 15-minute morning break during which she checks mail and helps supervise students outside. She teaches another science class and then a student council/leadership class, where she meets with student committees that are working on such projects as planning a teacher appreciation breakfast, decorating for an upcoming dance, confirming a speaker for an honor roll assembly, or setting up for the day's lunchtime activities. During her lunch period, Maggie supervises the lunchtime activities led by student council members—everything from relay races to lip-synching contests.
After lunch, Maggie uses her 52-minute preparation period to speak with students about discipline referrals and make phone calls to their parents. If any time remains, she prepares for the following day's lesson or catches up on grading. Sometimes Maggie meets with other administrators during her prep period to discuss schoolwide discipline issues or upcoming after-school events.
In the afternoon, Maggie teaches one final science class. During school dismissal, she supervises students getting on the buses and tells the bus drivers the results of any discipline referrals they wrote. One or two days a week Maggie supervises an after-school homework club; on other days, she cleans up her science lab and sets up for the following day. Maggie often brings lesson planning and grading home with her to tackle after her family has gone to bed.
If a full-time school administrator is out sick or at a meeting, Maggie steps in as an assistant principal for the day or for a period while a substitute takes her classes. Other duties come up throughout the school year: creating the master duty schedule and maintaining it throughout the year, helping plan for standardized testing in the spring, and coordinating all school dances.
Surviving as a TAP
Working as a TAP prepares a teacher well for the rigors of school administration, but as the description of Maggie's day reflects, it can be a difficult path to follow. We have found strategies that help make the experience less stressful.
TAPs' time management skills are pushed to the limit. They are typically involved with administrative meetings before and sometimes after school, they often use their prep period to handle discipline issues, and at lunch they may be supervising games and other activities. Yet they must also keep up with their classroom teaching responsibilities. Burnout is a risk, especially because many teachers work as TAPs for years before being promoted to administration.
A good way TAPs can avoid burnout is to choose their own responsibilities, focusing on areas they most want to improve rather than piling up numerous duties. Working with the site principal, a TAP can often create his or her own job description, choosing the duties he or she will commit to throughout the year. Selecting a specific area of administration to focus on long-term, or a different area each year, prevents a fragmented view of administration and enables the TAP to work through administrative tasks from start to finish. Because TAPs are often taking graduate education courses, they can dovetail some TAP projects with course assignments.
Another difficult aspect of the TAP position is the need to be consistent and follow through with discipline. Often, disciplinary issues are not cut-and-dried, nor are they necessarily resolved after one encounter. Some discipline problems are part of a pattern or are more severe than just classroom disruption. School administrators may need to interview other students involved or follow up for months with the student being disciplined; a TAP may be involved at many different stages in this process.
To make sure that students are treated fairly and with respect, a TAP involved in discipline needs to communicate openly with other administrators. The school must have a clearly defined discipline plan that all students and parents are familiar with. Our TAPs have found it helpful to keep detailed notes on the step-by-step process they follow in any disciplinary action.
A Better Climate for Administration
The TAP program greatly improves the work climate for all administrators in Capistrano schools. Having one or several TAPs means there are a number of credentialed administrators on campus, which enables the principal and assistant principals to delegate responsibilities and not feel overwhelmed. A TAP can step in as a substitute assistant principal when other administrators are called off campus for district meetings, conferences, or personal issues.
A TAP also supports administrators as a liaison to the teaching staff. Because a TAP is still a teacher, fellow teachers do not see the TAP as removed from classroom issues, as they sometimes view the principal. Teachers may have discussions with TAPs that they would not feel comfortable having with other administrators, so TAPs may be able to let the school administration know about teachers' concerns and needs that would otherwise go unresolved. TAPs must be tactful in engaging in such conversations with colleagues while still being a visible member of the administrative team.
The TAP can also act as a liaison between the administration and students. Because TAPs may teach up to 200 students a day, they are able to build personal relationships with more students than most administrators can. Many TAPs are also activities directors who come in contact with most students on a regular basis; as a result, they can give site administrators an inside view of student relationships and possible unseen sources of tension. Because students often trust and respect the TAP, discipline becomes proactive and the school culture is one of mutual trust and respect rather than fear.
We have found the TAP program an invaluable way to cultivate and retain principals for Capistrano schools. Every day for an administrator is different from the next, and even veteran administrators can be surprised by new situations. Drawing on experience can help new administrators survive the stress of the first years and enhance their effectiveness. TAPs who move into school administration possess the insight and confidence that can only come with hands-on experience.
