Abstract
Purpose. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of Hispanic high school principals to identify discrepancies between the expectations they anticipated for the role of principal and the realities they encountered on the job their first year as moderated by age and by gender. Methodology. This was an ex post facto, descriptive study generated from ordinal data produced by a survey that was sent to eighty-eight Hispanic high school principals. There was a 77 percent rate of returned surveys. Chi-square and Fisher's exact probability were used for data analysis due to the small frequency of the responses and the size of the sample population (Isaac and Michael 1981). The survey was originally designed by Dr. Carol Osbrink (1993) and was partially modified to answer the research questions related to Hispanic high school principals. Findings. The high school principal position in the United States is under a microscope and its evolution is inevitable. The diversity of California typically places the state in the leading position, and California has begun to assess the changes that are necessary for the role of the principal in the twenty-first century. Conclusions. The study data support the need to afford Hispanic high school principals, as well as women and other minorities, mentoring opportunities to increase the level of success and to increase the number of Hispanic principals that retain the position after the first year on the job. The high school principal role needs to be reinvented to meet the current expectations as related to accountability in the twenty-first century. A systemic approach may need to be implemented to address the underrepresentation of Hispanics, women, and other minorities in the high school principal position in the most diverse state of the nation, California. Recommendations. Further research is advised in the area of promoting and retaining qualified educators, but especially in encouraging the interest of those educators who belong to underrepresented groups to pursue the high school principal position in California. There could be further research that may be completed to understand the underrepresentation of Hispanic principals at the elementary and/or middle school.