GUIDELINES FOR SKILLS DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS IN THE 21st CENTURY UNDER LOEI PRIMARY EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AREA OFFICE 1

Abstract

               The objectives of the research were (1) to study the current condition and desired condition. And necessary needs and guidelines for skills development of school administrators in the 21^st century under the Loei Primary Educational Service Area Office 1, (2) to study guidelines for developing skills of Educational institution administrators, and (3) to evaluate the guidelines for developing the skills of school administrators. The study was divided into 3 phases. The first phase was to study the current conditions, the desired conditions, and the priority needs. The sample group was a total of 302 respondents; consisting of thirty-four school administrators and 268 teachers, selected by Krejcie and Morgan sample size calculating table, including the stratified random sampling method. The research instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire. The second phase to study the guidelines comprised three steps; the first step on the in-depth interview of three school administrators as key informants with the semi-structured interview, the second step on drafting the guidelines, and the third step on the focus group discussion of nine experts to assess and confirm the guidelines. The third phase was to evaluate the guidelines by connoisseurship of five experts. The descriptive statistics used for data analysis comprised frequency distribution, percentage, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, and the modified priority needs index. The descriptive analytics was used for the qualitative data analysis. The research finding revealed that the current condition of the guidelines for developing the 21^st century skills of school administrators under the Loei Primary Educational Service Area Office 1 was totally found at a high level. (x̅ = 3.82, SD = 0 .58). The desired condition was overall found at the highest level (x̅ = 4.77, SD = 0. 50). The modified priority index of essential needs, in the descending order of top three level, was (1) Digital technology (PNI_Modified = 0.36), (2) Creativity (PNI_Modified = 0.28), and (3) Innovation for learning (PNI_Modified = 0.26). The other finding disclosed that the guidelines for the 21^st century skill development of school administrators under the Loei Primary Educational Service Area Office 1 consisted of five elements; (1) the Creative Initiatives with three methods, four projects, five activities, and nine practices, (2) the Digital Technology with three methods, six projects, three activities, and nine practices, (3) the Communication with three methods, four projects, five activities, and nine practices, (4) the Human Relations with three methods, two projects, seven activities, and nine practices, and (5) the Innovation for Learning with three methods, five projects, four activities, and nine practices, respectively. Another finding informed that the guideline evaluation results overall, it is at the highest level. (x̅= 4.78, SD = 0.41) Arranged from the mean from highest to lowest is the possibility side (x̅ = 4.78, SD = 0.41) Appropriateness aspect (x̅ = 4.75, SD= 0.42) and usefulness aspect (x̅ = 4.74, SD = 0.44).