Tracking Time

Eleven school administrators took part in an innovative study that aimed to better track how principals use their time—and how that might correlate with student achievement and student behavioral/emotional risk.

The administrators were set up with Pebble Smartwatches, allowing Lehigh to randomly contact them daylong for a month to track how much time they spent on administration, instruction and other areas. Students were later screened for behavioral and emotional difficulties.

The project was led by Bridget V. Dever, assistant professor of School Psychology; Craig Hochbein, assistant professor of Educational Leadership; and George P. White, Iacocca professor of Educational Leadership.

"What we wanted to know," says Dever, "was whether what principals were doing on a daily basis was really relating to student outcomes."

The data showed links between how principals spent time and student outcomes. Among early findings: When principals spent more time on administration, students reported better coping and social skills and fewer internalizing problems; when principals reported more time on non-school activities, students in those schools reported higher levels of behavioral and emotional difficulties.

Following changes over time will help to pinpoint causation in these associations, Dever says.

The on-going project also will look at whether there are any links between how well students perform on standardized tests and how principals spend their time.