The degree of administrative empowerment and development of performance and the relationship between them from point of view of the public schools principals in the districts of the northern West Bank

This study aimed to determine The degree of administrative empowerment and development of performance and the relationship between them from point of view of the public schools principals in the districts of the northern West Bank, and to clarify the effect of independent variables (sex, academic qualification, years of experience, academic specialization, educational level, the skill of using computer, rehabilitation and training, age) on the headmasters perceptions and recognition. The population of this study consisted of (759) principals according to the statistics of Ministry of Education and Higher Education in Palestine (2010-2011). The researcher used the descriptive method. The study sample was chosen as a stratified random sample and the researcher selected directorates surveyed, so the study was conducted on the principals of government schools in the Northern governorates of the West Bank. The number was (300) principals, a rate of 40% of the population of the study. In order to achieve the objectives of this study, the researcher developed a questionnaire composed of two parts containing (62) paragraphs. The first section addresses the issue of administrative empowerment distributed on four areas: (personal field, and administrative field, technical field, and training and rehabilitation), The second section addresses the issue of developing performance distributed on four areas: (area of participation in decision-making, delegation of authority, communication and making contact, and performance evaluation ) and a measurement to estimate the degree of awareness of the relationship between administrative empowerment and development of performance for the principals of government schools according to the Likert scale. The questionnaire was distributed on a sample study randomly in the mentioned directorates of Education . The researcher retrieved (270) questionnaires, a rate of (90%) of the sample size, and the researcher prepared questionnaire. The questionnaire validity was achieved by a panel of (11) arbitrator, and then the researcher was computed reliability coefficient by Cronbach Alpha, the percentage of reliability was (94%). To answer the first question, the averages and percentages were extracted for each paragraph, each area, and for the total degree of the tool. To examine the questions and hypotheses of the study, the following tests were used: One Sample T-test, T – test for independent groups, analysis of variance (ANOVA), Scheffe - post hoc Test, and Pearson's correlation. The most important findings of the study: - The degree of acquisition of administrative empowerment for principals of government schools in the Northern governorates of the West Bank in the whole tool was very large. - The degree of acquisition of development of performance for principals of government schools in the Northern governorates of the West Bank in the whole tool was very large. - There was strong positive correlation between administrative empowerment and development of performance for principals of government schools in the Northern governorates of the West Bank, where the Pearson correlation coefficient between administrative empowerment and development of performance was (74.6%). - There was no statistically significant differences at the significance level (α = 0.05) in the degree of acquisition of administrative empowerment for principals of government schools in the Northern governorates of the West Bank due to the variables of: sex, academic qualification, academic specialization, qualification, years of experience, school level, computer skills ,and age. - There was no statistically significant differences at the significance level (α = 0.05) in the degree of acquisition of development of performance for principals of government schools in the Northern governorates of the West Bank due to the variables of: sex, academic qualification, academic specialization, qualification, years of experience, school level, computer skills, training and rehabilitation, and age. - There were statistically significant differences at the significance level (α = 0.05) in the degree of acquisition of administrative empowerment for principals of government schools in the Northern governorates of the West Bank in the areas of (the personal side, the management side, the technical side, the training and rehabilitation side and the overall area) depending on the variable of training and qualification and age. In light of the results of the study the researcher concluded a set of recommendations, including: 1 - Paying more attention to the preparation of programs and training of principals of government schools by equipping the training centers with modern techniques and effective training materials that consistent with the evolution. 2 - Involving school principals in the formulation of educational policies and educational decision-making that serve the educational field. 3 - Easing the burdens on school principals and giving them a better opportunity to pursue educational issues rather than preoccupation with paper work that is repeated in different sections of the directorates. 4 – Putting foundations and clear criteria for assessing the work of school principals and the use of incentives system for distinctive ones.