Keywords

Proposed Program, Professional Competencies, School Leaders.

Introduction

Nowadays, the world is witnessing a unique accelerated trend in the orientation towards the future in all the life aspects, which directed societies to pay attention to the tools that support this trend. Where leadership is the most important factor in the institutional work, it is essential to direct the greatest effort towards developing its competencies in the leadership field.

Consequently, (Şenol, 2019) believes that the educational leaders’ role has saw many changes due to the various expectations and needs of education stakeholders, this increased the need of continuous professional development of educational leaders to help them to perform their new roles. Additionally, Educational leaders who are enrolled in professional development programs are notable by expanding and updating their knowledge and improving their work performance to achieve the best educational practices in schools.

Hence (Al-Sahli, 2019) indicated that school conditions responsible for the teacher’s underperformance can be attributed to a group of school factors, the most important one is the school leadership, which confirms the importance of training programs focusing on familiarizing them the leaders with the tasks and responsibilities of school work and how to use the available capabilities to make the educational process a success.

The increasing importance of the school leader as a major factor in educational attainment has led to the emergence of major research and training programs in many countries of the world, which required increased attention to leadership skills development programs for managers to provide a deeper understanding of this area (Cáceres, 2019), so studies of (Day et al., 2016), (Hernández-Castilla & Murillo, 2017) and (Sun et al., 2017) on school improvement projects confirmed that one of the main success factors is the sustainable professional growth of educational leadership.

Accordingly, the subject of professional development for educational leaders in general and school, in particular, has received great attention from intellectuals, researchers and those in charge of developing educational systems worldwide, as a result of the pivotal role that school leadership plays in achieving the quality of the educational system, school leadership is the most important component of the educational system.

The Concept of Professional Competencies for School Leaders

The word “competency” was defined in the dictionary (Webster, 1984) as the specific work performed by the competent, successful person. Alberta Education, Office (2020) defines competency as a coherent set of knowledge, skills and attitudes that have been developed over time, utilized and applied in a specific leadership context in order to support good leadership and optimal teaching and learning as required by the leadership quality standard.

Also, the Council of Chief State School Officers (2017) defined educational leadership competencies as the complete and detailed vision of leading learning using an approach that includes managing sequential change, improvement and transformation which is organized with the learner for the purpose of achieving equity issues in at the forefront and is woven throughout. It includes a number of critical educational leadership competencies such as learning leadership, integrity and accountability, communication, critical thinking, innovation and creativity, decision-making, problem-solving, change management, and entrepreneurship; Digital literacy; And emotional intelligence (Kin & Abdull Kareem, 2019).

The National Policy Board for Educational Administration (NPBEA) (2018) defined the school leaders’ professional competencies as the ability of an educational leader to collaboratively develop, clarify, implement, and supervise a vision of learning for the school; Understanding the data and can be collected and used to define school goals, assess organizational effectiveness and implement plans to achieve school goals. Promote the school with sustainable improvement, the understanding and evaluate the school progress, the school review and the development of plans supported by the school stakeholders.

In light of the previous definitions, it can be said that the concept of professional competence includes three components: knowledge, skills and attitudes, and that school leaders’ possession of professional competencies represented in the set of knowledge, trends and skills is the means that enables them to be able to perform their tasks and excel in achieving school goals.

Despite the great attention that many developed countries give to develop school educational leadership, in the Arab countries the attention directed towards developing school leaders is still below the expected level, as the (UNESCO, 2016) report indicated that in most Education systems in Arab countries, school leadership is a pre-retirement bonus for teachers, as there are no policies that require school leaders to have leadership qualifications. The report also stresses the importance of improving leadership training and program design to comply with national policies related to education, employment, and professional development, so that training is provided before and after employment.

Likewise in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), where (Al-Sahli, 2018) believes that the role of colleges of education in Saudi universities in developing the performance of educational leaders, including school leaders is still unclear, in addition to the absence of visions and strategic plans that define the roles of the colleges of education and their responsibilities towards community service.

Developing the Professional Competencies of Educational Leaders in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The government of KSA gives concrete consideration to the issue of leadership development and the attention is directed towards preparing leaders in KSA the Ministry of Education is one of the targeted government agencies from the "King Salman Program for Human Resources Development" to raise the quality of performance and productivity of human resources in the Kingdom, develop their career capabilities, prepare and build leaders and ensures the achievement of the following goals:

1. Raising the quality of government employee performance and productivity at work.

2. Development of the work environment.

3. Establishing clear policies and procedures to implement the concept of human resources.

4. Preparing and building second-row leaders (MinistryofCivilService, 2019).

Based on the vision of KSA (2030), the Ministry of Education adopted a program to prepare and qualify leaders, the program aimed at developing educational leaders and raising their efficiency and readiness, and preparing them for new leadership positions. This is accomplished through several steps that have been technically programmed through an electronic portal that includes filtering tools and a leadership learning platform (Ministry of Education, 2018).

According to a document issued by the National Center for Measurement (2017), the professional standards for school principals focus on leading the school in a professional manner, through which standards that are in line with international standards are achieved within the framework of local requirements for all aspects of the educational process, these standards impose on principals to take a leadership role.

This document was prepared in light of the Education Policy for KSA the School Leadership Manual (School Development Program/Development Project), the educational standards document for the elements of the educational process (Ministry of Education / Public Administration of Measurement and Evaluation), The national professional standards for teachers in KSA, In addition to the powers granted for the principal of the school from the Ministry of Education, and global models for professional standards for school principals. The following summarizes these criteria as presented in the document on the professional standards of school principals, where the National Center for Measurement identified 6 areas that include 17 criteria for selecting school leaders, as shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Fields and Criteria for Selecting School Leaders as Defined by the National Center for Measurement
#	Field	Criteria
1	Environmental organization of school work	1. Provides a supportive and simulating work environment
		2. Considers safety requirements
2	School leadership	1. Leads school planning process
		2. Leads the change processes
		3. Exercises the role of the evaluator supervisor.
		4. Know the most prominent theories and modern trends in school administration
		5. Leads the school of the future
		6. Leads the school self-evaluation process
3	Support & Development	1. Supports education operations
		2. Improves and develop the learning environment
4	Leading school self-assessments	1.Interested in developing his knowledge and professional skills
		2. There is a professional and organizational environment that encourages development and improvement
5	Participation and Communication	1. Adheres to principle of participation and expanding opportunities for dialogue and discussion
		2. Proficient in communicating with the school and local community
6	Professional values and regulations	1. Adheres to Islamic values and principles
		2. Knowledge of administrative and educational regulations
		3. Leads education as an ethical profession

In view of the criteria contained in the professional standards document for public schools leaders and principals, there is an overlap between the standards mentioned in each of the six areas, the researcher has tried to focus on a set of professional competencies necessary for school leaders taking advantage of what was mentioned in that document after analyzing its fields, the criteria listed under each field, and the indicators necessary to achieve each of these criteria, while focusing on professional competencies that are compatible with modern trends in leadership that can be improved in the school leaders according to the fields mentioned in Table 1. The most important efforts made by the Ministry of Education in the development of educational and school leaders in particular that it will continue to have limited impact in developing the professional competencies of school leaders, as the program for preparing and qualifying leaders is directed primarily towards those with high performance.

Also, the program design focuses on the technical aspect that relies on distance training, which limits its degree of effectiveness in the field, as is the case in the school management test project, which limited in impact because its goal is confined to measuring the knowledge, skills, and values that must be available to school leaders. These programs did not exceed the level of preparation to the implementation stage, additionally, the topic of professional development for school leaders has received much attention from many researchers, and the following are some of the prominent studies that have addressed the topic of professional development for school leaders.

The Study of (Daniëls et al., 2019) which is a survey in Belgium summarized the relevant literature in school leadership research; it found several professional development activities for school principals, such as:

1. Professional development curricula must be carefully designed and consider the individual development needs of the leader.

2. The professional development of school principals must be experimental

3. Knowing the impact of leadership development activities on their practices.

4. Learning through networking and group counseling.

The Study of (Hancock, Müller, Wang, & Hachen, 2019) which is a comparative study between Germany and the United States of America, studied the impact of 9 work-related factors that affected the motivation of 145 principals in Germany and 134 principals in USA for becoming school leaders. Through interviews and survey data, the researchers recognized differences and similarities in the factors that shaped the motivation of managers in both countries.

A study by (Nooruddin & Bhamani, 2019) was conducted in Pakistan to explore the importance of school leaders' participation in continuous professional development using the case study method. An elite school was chosen as a case sample, and then two school leaders (the principal and supervisor) were selected as a targeted sample for the study. Data analysis revealed that school leaders are pursuing their professional growth in a very systematic way and directed towards the administrative process, the study also identified the basic characteristics of effective professional development. With effective strategies for policymakers, school leadership, school administrators, and teachers on how to engage in ongoing career development efforts.

The study of (Radwan, 2017), which aimed to identify the role of education offices in achieving the professional development of educational leaders from the point of view of the directors and deputies in the UNRWA schools, who numbered (150) individuals. The study concluded that the degree of appreciation of the study sample individuals for the role of education offices in achieving professional development for educational leaders was large.

The Study of (Kalooly, 2014), which aimed to determine the reality of the need of the principals of public schools in Kuwait for professional development, the survey descriptive approach was used through a questionnaire applied to a sample of school principals in Kuwait, who were 400 individuals, the researcher also used the open interview tool with some educational leaders in Kuwaiti schools. The results of the study showed that the needs of public school principals in Kuwait for professional development were high. The results of the study also revealed that the level of use of professional development mechanisms for the head of public schools in Kuwait was mean.

The study of (Canales, 2004) that aimed to identify the impact of professional development on the competencies of educational leaders in Texas state in the USA, where the researcher followed the descriptive survey method using the questionnaire that was applied to a sample of 51 supervisors, the study concluded that working with team spirit and teamwork helps to coordinate and plan to build more effective development programs.

The study of (Bizzell, 2011) aimed to reveal the level of professional development of school principals in Virginia and assessed the impact of professional development on the leadership behaviors of principals; the researcher used the descriptive investigative approach using the interview with 13 principals. Moreover, the study reached several results, the most important of which is that most of the managers interviewed had good skills and experience related to professional development, but they do not comply with the three principles of high-quality professional development which are namely: continuous, linked to work, and help achieve school goals.

From the previous presentation, it is noted that studies that dealt with the issue of professional development for school leaders in KSA focus on the role of education departments and leadership supervisors in the field of professional development for school leaders, which highlights the scarcity of studies that dealt with the role of universities in this aspect, and confirms the importance of the current study that was directed towards strengthening the role of universities in the field of school leadership development.

Study Problem

School leadership in KSA faces a set of challenges, the most prominent of which is related to the level of professional competencies of the schools’ leaders due to the shortcomings in their preparation and qualification programs, as they are originally eligible for teaching and not for leadership work.

For instance, the study of (Al-Lehayani, 2015) showed that the level of leadership competencies of School principals' from the point of view of teachers and educational supervisors in Makkah came at a moderate degree, and the result of the Study of (Al-Dawood, 2018) showed that the degree of professional competencies related to school leadership among educational leaders in Riyadh from the point of view of school leadership supervisors was in the sixth order with an mean of 2,68.

Also, the study of (Al-Anzi, 2017) recommended that those in charge of school leadership training programs should focus on professional competencies for work, and the results of a number of studies such as the study of (Al-Qahtani, 2015) and (Al-Omari, 2014) indicated that although there are serious attempts by the Ministry of Education in KSA to achieve professional development for educational leaders, these attempts are insufficient and ineffective due to deficiencies in the professional development of leaders. Furthermore, there is a need to develop educational leaders; hence the study of the (Sulaiman & Al-Habib, 2017) recommended the necessity of activating the advisory role of colleges of education in all local universities to provide experience for school leaders.

Accordingly, despite the attention given to the issue of developing the performance of school leaders in KSA, the efforts made by the Ministry in this field is still below the expected level due to the absence of an integrated strategy directed towards the professional development of public schools’ leaders. This is what the study of (Al-Mutlaq, 2013) indicated; it confirmed that one of the most prominent obstacles facing sustainable development for directors of public schools in the Kingdom is the lack of an integrated strategy for the sustainable professional development process.

A notable feature was the absence of the role of education colleges in Saudi universities in the projects adopted by the Ministry of Education in the field of developing school leaders, despite their direct relevance to this topic, especially after the Ministry stopped the programs directed at leaders of public schools that were implemented by the colleges of education for a semester.

The researcher also conducted a pilot study directed to the heads of the school leadership departments in the education departments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to reveal the degree of their appreciation for the role that the educational administration departments contribute in the field of developing the professional competencies of the leaders of public schools, and the degree of their appreciation for the importance of the role of the educational administration departments in universities Saudi Arabia in developing these competencies, as well as the degree of their appreciation for the importance of the proposed programs to develop these competencies.

The arithmetic means and standard deviations of the 55 respondents were calculated according to the levels of the scale used (large - medium - weak), and the results showed that the arithmetic mean for the appreciation of heads of school leadership departments in education departments for the role of educational administration departments in colleges of education in the field of professional development for school leaders has reached 1.47, that is, they see the weakness of the role of educational administration departments in the field of developing the professional competencies of leaders of public schools, also, the results showed their high appreciation due to the importance of the role of educational administration departments in Saudi universities in developing these competencies, as the mean for their responses was 2.60, that is, they see its importance to a large degree, the results of the pilot study revealed that a proposal to present a professional diploma in school leadership for one academic year ranked first among the proposed programs with a high degree of importance according to the heads of school leadership departments in education departments with a mean of 2.82.

In light of the importance of school leadership, and the importance of the role of universities in the field of professional development for school leaders, and in light of the results of the pilot study, the importance of research on ways to develop the performance of those in charge of school leadership is emphasized, as this study aims to present a concept for a proposed program to develop professional competencies for the leaders of public schools.

Study Questions

1. What is the degree of appreciation of specialists in educational administration departments in Saudi universities for the importance and potential for educational administration departments to contribute to developing the professional competencies of leaders of public schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

2. Is there a statistically significant difference at the level of α 0.05 between the responses of educational administration and leadership specialists in Saudi universities towards the importance and possibility of the contribution of educational administration departments in developing the professional competencies of leaders of public schools?

3. What is the degree of appreciation of specialists in educational administration departments in Saudi universities for the possibility of implementing the proposed program to develop professional competencies for leaders of public schools?

4. What is the proposed vision for a program to develop professional competencies for leaders of public schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

Study Objectives

1 To reveal the degree of appreciation of specialists in educational administration departments in Saudi universities for the importance and potential for educational administration departments to contribute to developing the professional competencies of leaders of public schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

2 To reveal the significance of the differences between the responses of educational administration and leadership specialists in Saudi universities towards the importance and possibility of the educational administration departments’ contribution to developing the professional competencies of the leaders of public schools.

3 To reveal the degree of appreciation of specialists in educational administration departments in Saudi universities for the possibility of implementing the proposed program to develop the professional competencies of leaders of public schools.

4 Presenting a proposed concept for a program of developing professional competencies for leaders of public schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Study Significance

The significance of this study stems from the importance of its topic, which is the development of professional competencies for school leaders, as the level of progress of education systems depends greatly on the level of school leadership, it is hoped that the results of the study will contribute to strengthening the role of educational administration departments in developing the competencies of leaders of public schools through the proposal that the study will present, in order to help strengthen the partnership between universities and education departments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Study Scope

The Objective Scope: The study was limited to studying the importance and possibility of the educational administration departments’ contribution to developing the professional competencies of school leaders, and presenting a concept for a program of developing professional competencies for leaders of public schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Spatial scope: the study was applied to all colleges of education in Saudi universities.

The Human Scope: The study included a group of educational administration and leadership specialists in Saudi universities.

Time Scope: The study took place during the second semester of the 2019/2020 academic year.

Material and Methods

Study Method

The descriptive survey approach was used for its suitability to achieve the objectives of the study.

Study Sample

The study was applied to 31 educational administration and leadership specialists in Saudi universities.

Study Tool

In light of the theoretical literature and in light of the results of the pilot study, the researcher conducted a questionnaire directed at a group of educational administration and leadership specialists in Saudi universities to reveal the degree of their appreciation of the importance and possibility of the educational administration departments’ contribution to developing the professional competencies of school leaders in the fields of (environmental organization of school work, Planning, supervising and changing processes, supporting education processes and improving the learning environment Leading the school's self-evaluation processes, participating and communicating with the school and local community, leading education as an ethical profession), and revealing the degree of their appreciation for the ability of educational administration departments to contribute to the implementation of the proposed program to develop these competencies, according to a five-points grading scale.

Validity and Reliability of the Study Tools

To verify the validity of the study tools, they were presented in its initial form to 6 educational administration and leadership specialists, and in light of their opinions, the researcher made the necessary adjustments to the study tool. To verify the reliability of the study tool, the reliability coefficient was calculated using the "Alpha Cronbach" equation, as presented in Table 2.

Table 2 Reliability Coefficients (Alpha Cronbach) for the First Questionnaire Dimensions
Dimension	Number of Items	Alpha Cronbach Coefficient
The importance of the educational administration departments’ contribution to developing the professional competencies of the leaders of public schools	6	0.87
The possibility of the educational administration departments contributing to the development of the professional competencies of the leaders of public schools	6	0.88
Total reliability of the study tool	12	0.875

Results

The answer to the first question: “What is the degree of appreciation of specialists in educational administration departments in Saudi universities for the importance and potential for educational administration departments to contribute to developing the professional competencies of leaders of public schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?”

To reveal the degree of appreciation of educational administration and leadership specialists in Saudi universities for the importance and potential for educational administration departments to contribute to developing the professional competencies of leaders of public schools, to answer this question, arithmetic means and standard deviations were calculated for their responses, as shown in the following Table 3.

Table 3 Arithmetic Means of Responses of Educational Administration and Leadership Specialists in Saudi Universities about the Degree of Appreciation of the Importance and Possibility of the Educational Administration Departments’ Contribution to Developing the Professional Competencies of School Leaders.
#	Statements	Importance				Possibility
		Arithmetic Mean	Standard Deviation	Order	Importance	Arithmetic Mean	Standard Deviation	Order	Possibility
1	The role of educational administration departments in developing the professional competencies of school leaders in the field of (environmental organization of schoolwork).	4.84	0.58	1	Very large	4.52	0.63	2	Very large
2	The role of educational administration departments in developing the professional competencies of school leaders in the field of (planning, supervising and changing processes).	4.84	0.45	1	Very large	4.61	0.56	1	Very large
3	The role of educational administration departments in developing the professional competencies of school leaders in the field of (supporting educational operations and improving the learning environment).	4.58	0.50	4	Very large	4.23	0.67	5	Very large
4	The role of educational administration departments in developing the professional competencies of school leaders in the field of (leading school self-evaluation processes).	4.68	0.48	3	Very large	4.39	0.67	3	Very large
5	The role of educational administration departments in developing the professional competencies of school leaders in the field of (participation and communication with the school and local community).	4.68	0.48	3	Very large	4.39	0.62	3	Very large
6	The role of educational administration departments in developing the professional competencies of school leaders in the field of (leading education as an ethical profession).	4.74	0.51	2	Very large	4.36	0.80	4	Very large
	Overall Mean	4.72	0.5	Very large		4.42	0.66		Very large
Arithmetic Mean out of 5

It is evident from the previous table that the arithmetic means of the responses of educational administration and leadership specialists in Saudi universities regarding the importance of the educational administration departments’ contribution to developing the professional competencies of school leaders in public schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was with a very large degree, as the general arithmetic mean of their responses was 4.72 which means that they see the importance of this to a very large extent, the professional competencies related to the environmental organization of schoolwork, as well as the competencies related to planning, supervision and change processes ranked first, with an arithmetic mean of 4.84, then the competencies associated with leading education as an ethical profession with a mean of 4.74. In the third place came the competencies related to participation and communication with the school and local community and the competencies associated with leading the school's self-evaluation processes, with a mean of 4.68, and in the last place came the competencies related to supporting education processes and improving the learning environment with a mean of 4.58.

It is also evident from the table that their responses to the possibility of the educational administration departments contributing to the development of the professional competencies of school leaders in public schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia came to a very large extent, as the general arithmetic mean of their responses was 4.42, meaning that they see the possibility of that to a very large degree. The professional competencies came in first place in the planning, supervision and change processes with an arithmetic mean of 4.61, and the competencies related to the environmental organization of school work came in the second place with an arithmetic mean of 4.52, in the third place came the competencies associated with leading the school's self-evaluation processes, and competencies Associated with participation and communication with the school community and the local community, with an arithmetic mean of 4.39, then the competencies associated with leading education as an ethical profession with an arithmetic mean of 4.36, in the last place came the competencies associated with supporting education processes and improving the learning environment with a mean of 4.23.

The Answer to the Second Question: “Is there a study of statistically significant differences at the level of α 0.05 between the responses of educational administration and leadership specialists in Saudi universities towards the importance and possibility of the contribution of educational administration departments in developing the professional competencies of leaders of public schools?”

To answer this question, T test was used to reveal the degree of variation in the responses of educational administration and leadership specialists in Saudi universities regarding the degree of their appreciation of the importance and potential for the educational administration departments to contribute to developing the professional competencies of the leaders of public schools as shown in the following Table 4.

Table 4 T Test for The Significance of the Differences Between Responses Between the Responses of Educational Administration and Leadership Specialists in Saudi Universities about the Degree of Appreciation of the Importance and Possibility of the Educational Administration Departments’ Contribution to Developing the Professional Competencies of School Leaders.
Statement	The Difference is in the Means (Mean of Importance – Mean of Possibility)	SD	Degree of Freedom	T value	Level of Significance	Difference
The role of educational administration departments in developing the professional competencies of school leaders in the field of (environmental organization of schoolwork).	0.32	0.60	30	2.997	0.005	Statistically significant
The role of educational administration departments in developing the professional competencies of school leaders in the field of (planning, supervising and changing processes).	0.23	0.56	30	2.244	0.032	Statistically significant
The role of educational administration departments in developing the professional competencies of school leaders in the field of (supporting educational operations and improving the learning environment).	0.35	0.61	30	3.248	0.003	Statistically significant
The role of educational administration departments in developing the professional competencies of school leaders in the field of (leading school self-evaluation processes).	0.29	0.64	30	2.516	0.017	Statistically significant
The role of educational administration departments in developing the professional competencies of school leaders in the field of (participation and communication with the school and local community).	0.29	0.59	30	2.747	0.010	Statistically significant
The role of educational administration departments in developing the professional competencies of school leaders in the field of (leading education as an ethical profession).	0.39	0.72	30	3.013	0.005	Statistically significant

It is evident from the previous table that all the values of T are statistically significant at the level of α ≥ 0.05, meaning that the educational administration and leadership specialists in Saudi universities appreciate the importance of the contribution of educational administration departments in developing the professional competencies of the leaders of public schools more than their appreciation of the possibility of the educational administration departments’ contribution to developing competencies The professional leadership of school leaders, perhaps this is due to the high degree of awareness of specialists of the importance of developing these competencies for school leaders by the scientific departments as they are more specialized in this field. On the other hand, previous experiences in the field of the possibility of contributing to its development by educational administration departments are less than their level of importance, which is consistent with what was stated in the literature regarding deficiencies related to the programs of developing school leadership competencies.

The Answer to the Third Question: “What is the degree of appreciation of specialists in educational administration departments in Saudi universities for the possibility of implementing the proposed program to develop professional competencies for leaders of public schools?”

To reveal the degree of appreciation of educational administration and leadership specialists in Saudi universities for the possibility of implementing the proposed program to enhance the role of educational administration departments in developing the professional competencies of leaders of public schools, the arithmetic means were calculated and arranged in descending order of their responses, as shown in the following Table 5.

Table 5 Arithmetic Means of Responses of Educational Administration and Leadership Specialists in Saudi Universities about the Degree of their Appreciation for the Possibility of Implementing the Proposed Program to Enhance the Role of Educational Administration Departments in Developing the Professional Competencies of School Leaders
The proposed program		Possibility
		Arithmetic Mean	Standard Deviation	Order	Possibility
1	Providing a professional diploma specialized in school leadership for one academic year.	4.58	0.76	1	Very large
2	Providing quarterly courses for school leaders.	4.58	0.72	1	Very large
3	Providing short and varied programs for school leaders.	4.48	0.93	2	Very large
	Overall Average *	4.55	0.80		Very large
* Arithmetic means are out of 5

It is evident from the previous table that their responses towards the possibility of implementing the proposed programs to enhance the role of educational administration departments in developing the professional competencies of school leaders came to a very large extent, as the general arithmetic mean of their responses reached 4.55, meaning that they see that all proposals are very much possible. The proposal to provide educational administration departments for a professional diploma in school leadership for a period of an academic year ranked first with an arithmetic mean of 4.58, as well as the proposal to present educational administration departments for a quarterly courses for school leaders, then the proposal to providing short courses for school leaders, with a mean of 4.48.

The Answer to the Fourth Question: “What is the proposed vision for a program to develop professional competencies for leaders of public schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?”

In light of what the results of the survey study revealed regarding the weakness of the role of educational administration departments in developing competencies for leaders of public schools, and in light of the degree of appreciation of school leadership departments’ heads of the great importance of the role of educational administration departments in developing the professional competencies of leaders of public schools, the high degree of appreciation for the importance of a proposal to provide a professional diploma in school leadership for an academic year, the degree of appreciation of specialists in educational administration departments in Saudi universities for the importance and potential for educational administration departments to contribute to developing the professional competencies of leaders of public schools, and their high level of appreciation for the possibility of implementing the proposal to present a professional diploma specializing in leadership for an academic year by the departments of educational administration in the Faculties of Education to develop the professional competencies of school leaders, the following scenario is proposed:

The Proposed Program for Developing Professional Competencies for Leaders of General Education Schools

Program Name

Diploma in developing professional competencies for public schools’ leaders

Program Vision

To pioneer in developing the professional competencies of leaders of public schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Program Mission

Effective participation in developing the professional competencies of public education school leaders in the field of environmental organization of school work, planning, supervision and change processes, supporting education processes and improving the learning environment, leading the school's self-evaluation processes, participating and communicating with the school and local community, and leading education as an ethical profession, and keeping abreast of all developments in the field of developing the professional competencies of school leaders.

Program Goals

1. Developing the professional competencies of leaders of public schools in the field of environmental organization of schoolwork.

2. Developing the professional competencies of leaders of public schools in the field of planning, supervision and change processes.

3. Developing the professional competencies of leaders of public schools in the field of supporting education processes and improving the learning environment.

4. Developing the professional competencies of the leaders of public schools in the field of leading the school's self-evaluation processes.

5. Developing the professional competencies of leaders of public schools in the field of participation and communication with the school and local community.

6. Developing the professional competencies of leaders of public schools in the field of education leadership as an ethical profession.

7. Enhancing the capabilities of school leaders in providing development initiatives stemming from the feeling of the field's need for them.

The Starting Points of the Proposed Program

The main starting points of the proposed program can be identified as follows:

1. The importance of the role of school leaders as a result of their pivotal role in achieving the quality of the educational system. School leadership is the most important element among the elements of the educational system. Whatever the efficiency of the system’s inputs, its effectiveness in achieving the goals depends primarily on the presence of the leader capable of influencing and investing the available resources.

2. The vision of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 2030 is directed towards increasing investment in human capital and developing leadership capabilities and competencies.

3. The Ministry of Civil Service directions towards developing human resources in all sectors of the country through the "King Salman Program for Human Resources Development"

4. The professional standards document for school principals and principals, issued by the National Center for Measurement.

5. Global experiences in developing the professional competencies of school leaders.

Requirements for Preparing and Implementing the Proposed Program

The departments of educational administration in the Faculties of Education adopt the proposed program, and work to prepare and implement it, taking into account a set of requirements, the most prominent of which are:

1. A group of distinguished faculty members in the field of educational administration and leadership in the Faculties of Education in Saudi universities participate in building the program, with the participation of several school leaders.

2. To cover the competencies that the program focuses on: competencies related to planning, supervision and change processes, environmental organization of school work, support for education processes and improvement of the learning environment, leadership of school self-evaluation processes, participation and communication with the school and local community, and leadership of education as an ethical profession.

3. To take into account in the implementation of the program the combination of theory and practice, with a focus on the practical aspects, as revealed through results of the open question that was raised about the proposals that could contribute to enhancing the role of the colleges of education in developing the professional competencies of the administrative leaders on the heads School leadership departments in education departments on the importance of focusing programs on applied aspects and distance from theorizing.

4. That the program targets school leaders and school leadership supervisors, so that one program brings together a group of leaders and a leadership supervisor as much as possible.

5. Nominations for programs should be made by the Education Department represented by the School Leadership Department, taking into account the greater focus on leaders with less experience and the most in need to develop leadership competencies, so that they represent approximately 70% of enrolled in the program.

6. Coordination should take place between the Educational Administration Department and the School Leadership Department in the Education Administration regarding the procedures and requirements of the program, especially regarding its field aspect.

7. Passing the academic courses should depend on the evaluation criteria that are determined by the Department of Educational Administration, taking into account the focus on the skills targeted in each course, so that the course score is (100) degrees distributed as follows: (5% for attendance) ((10% for participation and interaction in theoretical hours) (45% for the outputs of practical hours distributed to the outputs of practical days hours) (20% for the report presented at the end of each course) (20% for the written test at the end of the course) provided that the grade obtained is not less than 70% as a condition for passing the course.

8. The trainee should submits at the end of the program a report showing the degree of his acquisition of the targeted professional competencies, provided that the report is a case study through which a problem is solved or a development proposal is proposed in light of the targeted competencies of the program.

9. Those enrolled in the programs should submit a final test that measures the degree of achievement of their target competencies, so that it represents 50% of the degree of passing the program, and is included in the trainee’s score, provided that the program is prepared by the National Center for Measurement in coordination between the university and the Ministry of Education.

10. That a single program results in at least one initiative related to education development, which will be raised at the end of the program to the concerned authority in the ministry, to enhance the participation of school leaders in education development programs, for example the initiatives related to (selection criteria, preparation, qualification and evaluation, and everything that would contribute to improving the quality of education in schools).

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