Communication competencies necessary for effective educational leadership as perceived by public school principal

Consensus appears in the literature regarding the dependence of effective educational leadership upon the leader's ability to communicate. The purpose of this study was to determine the communication competencies necessary for effective educational leadership as perceived by public school principals. A cross-sectional survey using a systematic sample of 317 randomly selected public school principals was used with a response rate 47%.;The Revised Communication Activity Questionnaire asked principals to rate their perceptions of importance, and personal confidence levels, in twenty identified communication skills in four different directions--toward superiors, co-workers, subordinates, and clients--using a Likert scale.;Results show that principals perceived all twenty identified competencies to be important. Consistently ranking among the top five in importance were: relationship building, listening, giving feedback, soliciting feedback (interpersonal skills), and public relations (organizational skill). Results also indicate that principals perceived themselves to be confident in the performance of all twenty communication skills. Consistently ranking in the top three in all four directions were routine information exchange, relationship building, and listening.;Interpretations include analysis of each skill overall, by gender, number of years experience, institution type, institution size, and age. Implications for practice include a new research base for communication training; a valid and reliable communication assessment instrument for use across organizational types; a need for more clinical training in interpersonal communication skills; a need for principals to continue to develop and refine important communication skills; and a need for principals to understand the distinction between confidence and competence when assessing personal communication skills.;Implications for further research include recommendations to: continue studying communication and leadership in the educational setting; replicate the study on the national level; study the reasons behind the variations between subgroups on communication confidence levels; study how principals currently gain communication skills; study the impact of educational reform efforts on communication and educational leadership; and facilitate principals in studying and assessing their personal communication competence through an analysis of message recipients' perceptions regarding that competence.