In 2004 the Missouri Professors of Educational Administration (MPEA) identified principals who had guided their schools to improved student achievement and/or maintained high levels of achievement. Principals were identified from rural, suburban and urban high schools, middle schools and elementary schools. In the spring of 2004 the identified principals were brought together for a KIVA session at the annual spring MPEA meeting. In the spring of 2005 surveys were sent to the faculties of the identified principals and on-site interviews were conducted to address how the principal addressed the areas of vision, culture/climate, management, public relations, ethics, and political/social issues in their school. Principals were also asked what aspects of their preparation program were of greatest benefit in these areas. In an effort to gather data from a larger population of successful principals in the state of Missouri, the MPEA commissioned a third year for the backward mapping project in 2006, to include a broader sample of successful principals. ACCESS FULL MANUSCRIPT HERE: http://cnx.org/content/m14255/latest/
