Secondary School Department Chair Roles: Principal Expectations

The literature on the principalship is extensive, revealing ways in which principals can foster or impede school success. At the same time, another formal secondary school-level position, the department chair, has garnered little scholarly attention. Thus far, the literature offers a limited account of the roles that chairs should or do perform in schools. Our purpose here is to draw much- needed attention to the position by examining the relative level of importance that principals assign to various chair roles. Specifically, we report findings from a survey of New York State secondary school principals indicating that principals assign a high, though varied, level of importance to chair roles, some of which are associated with the structural characteristics of the position. We discuss the implications of this and other findings.