Does Graduate Training in Educational Administration Improve America's Schools? : Another Look at Some National Data / Emil J. Haller and Others.

This paper examines the consequences of principals' graduate training in educational administration for school effectiveness and asks: Are schools led by administrators with extensive, formal preparation more effective than schools led by principals with little or no graduate training? The data were derived from the School and Staffing Survey (SASS), sponsored by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) and conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census during 1987-88, a nationally representative sample of the public and private elementary and secondary schools at that time. Of the total sample of 12,830 schools, a subsample of 6,341 elementary, junior high/middle, and high schools was analyzed. Five measures of school effectiveness were created. Then multiple analysis of variance and covariance was used to relate these measures to the level and type of training principals had received, controlling for several confounding influences. No evidence was found to suggest that principals' graduate training in educational administration improves the effectiveness of public elementary and secondary schools. It is recommended that further evidence be gathered before requiring graduate training for school administrators. Five tables are included. Contains 31 references. (LMI)

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