Abstract

This research aimed to: (1) examine the competency components of small-sized school administrators; (2) investigate the current conditions, desirable conditions, and priority needs for enhancing the competencies of small-sized school administrators; (3) develop a competency enhancement program for small-sized school administrators; and (4) examine the results of implementing the program. The study employed a research-and-development design with four phases. Phase 1: Examined the competency components of small-sized school administrators through a synthesis of related documents and research, together with interviews with seven experts. Phase 2: Investigated the current conditions, desirable conditions, and priority needs for enhancing the competencies of small-sized school administrators, using a sample of 381 small-sized school administrators under the Offices of Primary Educational Service Areas in the Northeast. Phase 3: Developed the competency enhancement program through program drafting and focus group discussion with nine experts. Phase 4: Examined the results of the program implementation. The data collection instruments were questionnaires, interview forms, tests, and evaluation forms. The statistics used for data analysis included percentages, means, standard deviations, and the modified priority needs index. The findings revealed that: (1) the competency components and indicators of small-sized school administrators comprised six components: (1) transformational leadership, (2) strategic management, (3) teamwork, (4) personnel development, (5) networking, and (6) application of digital technology. Seven experts rated the appropriateness of these components highly. (2) The current conditions of the competencies of small-sized school administrators were, overall, at a high level across all components, whereas the desirable conditions were, overall, at the highest level across all components. The most needed for development is transformational leadership (3). The competency enhancement program for small-sized school administrators consisted of five components: principles, objectives, content, development methods, and evaluation. The content was organized into six modules (4) The results of implementing the program may be summarized as follows: first, the competency assessment of participants before the program was, overall, at a high level, whereas after the program it was, overall, at the highest level; second, the comparison of participants’ competencies across the six modules before and after the program showed that the participants’ competencies after the program were significantly higher than before the program at the .05 level, both overall and by individual competency; and third, participants’ satisfaction with the program in four dimensions—reaction, learning, behavior, and results—was, overall, at the highest level.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.