Becoming an Educational Administrator

Educational administrators are skilled professionals who are responsible for a variety of non-teaching tasks - including budgets, curriculum development, and the maintenance of school buildings - leaving teachers free to concentrate on their professional skills.

The role of educational administrators varies from country to country. It also varies according to who employs them within each country: that is, by national government, by state education departments, or schools and colleges directly.

The Job:

Educational administrators fall into three broad types. The first is composed of civil servants. They work in national government education departments advising policy makers on matters of policy and finance affecting all educational establishments. For example, they may estimate the number of future pupils according to birth rates and advise on teacher training numbers and school building programs. They also work on such matters as educational standards, examinations, and a national curriculum.

Others work at a more local level, for state boards of education or county education departments, which administer local schools. Here, they deal with many day-to-day managerial and administrative matters affecting schools in their areas.

They may also be in charge of building programs, oversee the allocation of children to different schools, allocate funds (received directly from local taxpayers and/or from national taxpayers) to each school, negotiate contracts with teachers, handle such sensitive issues as reduced enrolments and school closures, arrange for pupils with special educational needs to receive extra support or attend special schools, purchase and distribute supplies and equipment to schools, organize school transport, and enforce attendance. In general, administrators specialize in one or more of the above duties and have departments of clerical and administrative staff to carry out the fine detail.

A third group works directly in the schools. School principals or head teachers are administrators - usually former teachers who have chosen this route as a means of promotion. They no longer teach but are responsible to the local education office or board for everything in the school, including teaching, discipline, pupil welfare, and academic standards. They are often assisted by deputy principals, who take on some of these tasks and also direct the work of secretaries and clerical staff.

Universities and colleges normally handle their own affairs. They are either independent institutions, financed by student tuition fees, endowments, and self-generated income, or are state-funded, receiving their money from a combination of fee income, government funding, and income earned for research and consultancy work. They, therefore, employ their own administrators.

College and university administrators handle budgets, keep records, organize examinations, select students, administer scholarships, provide personnel, welfare, and public relations services, run residential hostels, and maintain buildings. They are similar to specialist managers in many commercial companies, but they happen to have chosen an educational establishment as their employer. Many have specialist qualifications in, for example, accountancy personnel, or public relations. This last function is important since colleges and universities rely heavily on attracting students to generate income.

It is now becoming increasingly common for schools to employ their own administrators where national governments are encouraging schools to manage their own affairs and budgets. Many of these schools, therefore, now have accountants, bookkeepers, and general administrators on their staff.

Training Involved:

Most professional educational administrators are graduates, but their backgrounds vary. For many working in education offices, this is a second career, following on from teaching. For others, a professional training in, for example, accountancy, computing, personnel, marketing, catering, or estates management is more appropriate.

School and college principals - have a master's degree amid educational administration qualifications.

Useful Qualifications to Have:

Useful subjects include: mathematics, economics, law, and other subjects according to job specialization.

Salary Expectations:

The base salary range of a secondary school level Educational Administrator ranges from $46,400 to $73,807 annually, while the median salary for most secondary school level Educational Administrators is $60,104 annually. (US Base Pay)

Future Prospects:

The demand for educational administrators is constant and likely to remain so. Education forms a large part of many countries' national spending programs. Nevertheless, competition for many is keen - and many politicians are looking for ways to reduce the number of administrative posts, which means that additional jobs are unlikely to be created.

For further information, contact organizations such as a national or state deportment for education and employment or a local government management board, a national education association, or an association of school administrators.