erences in background leadership roles are related to differences in effective leadership functioning. However, it is the contention of this research that the first step in building toward an answer to the question of whether types of previous leadership experience are differentially related to leadership effectiveness is to survey a sample of administrators to determine whether there exists a systematic pattern to their background leadership experiences.
Such a survey would help to determine whether examination of these background leadership differences in related to effective leadership functioning is a fruitful area for future researchers to pursue. In addition, it would provide insight into the quality and quantity of background leadership experiences held by administrators and thus give an idea of the one facet of school administrators' credentials.
The research problem proposed for examination centers around compiling a profile of the kinds of background leadership experiences held by a sample of secondary school assistant principals. Such a profile may be considered to be a preliminary step in the future effort to define those background factors that input into maximally effective school leadership as well as a attempt to expand the existing knowledge base as to the general experiential credentials of those in current positions of school leadership.
The purpose of the proposed study is to investigate the prevalence of certain types of previous leadership experiences for a sample of vice principals working at the secondary level. Of specific interest is whether background extracurricular leadership experiences tend to be in athletic areas or non-athletic areas.
The athletic versus non-athletic dimension is selected for examination because the current leadership literature has, at the theoretical level, connected athletic leadership, in particular coaching, as a leadership role that builds many of the skills con...