Descriptive statistics were employed to describe the participants' responses and constant comparative analysis was used to quantify the survey data. Results

According to the survey results, ninety-two percent of the school superintendents confirmed the validity of the twenty-one factors identified in the prior literature. However, fewer than eight percent reported having any methodology for applying those criteria to the school principal hiring process. Given the obvious correlation between the quality of school principals in relation to those factors, it is clear that school superintendents must develop practices and methods for using those criteria during the school principal hiring process.

Recommendations, Conclusion, and Implications

Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that public school superintendents develop specific assessment procedures and tools...

Specifically, those methods and tools must relate to the factors about which there is a strong consensus among superintendents as to desirable qualities among school principals.
The implications of this study are that if school superintendents are to select principals who can contribute the most to the quality of education in their institutions, they should employ various tools. Those tools include interview questions precisely constructed to illuminate information about the twenty-one factors linked to high performance; targeted reviews of application materials in relation to those qualities; confirmation of those qualities through reference checks of prior employers; and the development and use of simulations designed to focus on the demonstration of those qualities by school principal candidates during the hiring process.