The development and validation of the Principal Efficacy Scale

Faced with the impending challenges presented by a shortage of qualified individuals seeking principalships, public education must consider aspects of the principalship and principals that hold those jobs and explore factors that may contribute to the shortage. The teacher efficacy construct is well founded in the literature and multiple studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect teacher efficacy has on student achievement. Unlike teacher efficacy, studies have not been conducted to consider the role of principal efficacy in relation to the success of principals.; The purpose of this study was to develop the construct of principal efficacy and to validate the components of the construct through the development of the Principal Efficacy Scale. The study was conducted by gathering information from experts in the field of educational administration and efficacy to create a model to represent the components of principal efficacy. The Principal Efficacy Scale was developed from the six components outlined in the researcher's model of principal efficacy (vision builder, facilitator of effective instruction, dedicated professional, communicator, change catalyst, and school/human resource manager) and the information provided by the experts. The instrument was administered to principals from every state in the United States.; Correlational analysis and factor analysis were conducted on the data to identify relationships between the components of principal efficacy represented on the instrument and to validate the principal efficacy model. The correlational analysis yielded information that suggested strong relationships between factors within each component of principal efficacy. Factor analysis indicated that the majority of the items on the instrument loaded on to a single factor.; Recommendations for future research studies suggest additional studies to examine the principal efficacy model and the Principal Efficacy Scale. Studies focused on individual subgroups of the sample derived in this study may provide more information about principal efficacy and the impact principal efficacy has on principal performance.