A SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE NEW YORK REGENTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP INVESTIGATED THE LEADERSHIP POSITION OF CHIEF SCHOOL OFFICERS (CSO'S). THE DATA COLLECTION PROCESS WAS CONDUCTED IN TWO PHASES. A QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY WAS MADE OF 818 CSO'S (SUPERINTENDENTS, SUPERVISING PRINCIPALS, DISTRICT PRINCIPALS, AND SCHOOL PRINCIPALS). DATA FROM 565 RETURNED QUESTIONNAIRES WERE REPORTED BY THE TOTAL SAMPLE, BY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AS A CSO, AND BY SIZE OF SCHOOL SYSTEM, IN RELATION TO CSO BACKGROUND AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS, CSO TRAINING, CSO CAREER PATTERNS, AND THE NATURE AND FUNCTION OF OFFICERSHIP. THE FINDINGS INDICATED THAT (1) CSO'S ARE ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY MALE, 51 YEARS OF AGE, AND OF MIDDLE TO LOW SOCIOECONOMIC FAMILY BACKGROUNDS, (2) A MAJORITY ATTENDED NONPUBLIC INSTITUTIONS INSIDE THE STATE FOR BOTH UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE TRAINING, (3) HIGHER SALARIES AND A DESIRE TO ORGANIZE MOTIVATED THEM TO ENTER SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION, (4) OVER HALF HAD WORKED OUTSIDE THE EDUCATIONAL FIELD, (5) THE AVERAGE CSO HAD ACCUMULATED 14.4 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION, AND (6) THE MAJORITY OF HIS TIME WAS SPENT ATTENDING MEETINGS, PLANNING BUDGETS, RECRUITING PERSONNEL, AND PLANNING EXPANSION. IN ADDITION TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY, A SAMPLE STUDY OF 37 CSO'S WAS MADE. EACH OFFICER WAS INTERVIEWED ABOUT HIS JOB, GIVEN A CATTELL 16 PERSONALITY FACTORS TEST, AND ASKED TO KEEP A 5-DAY ACTIVITY LOG. THESE INTERVIEWS REVEALED INFORMATION ABOUT CSO OCCUPATIONAL CHOICE, ROLE, SATISFACTIONS AND DISSATISFACTIONS, OBSTACLES, QUALITY, RECRUITING, AND TRAINING. THE CATTELL INSTRUMENT SHOWED FIVE OF THE 16 PERSONALITY SCORES TO BE OUTSIDE THE AVERAGE ADULT RANGE--CSO'S WERE MORE OUTGOING, INTELLIGENT, EMOTIONALLY STABLE, AND AVERAGED HIGHER SCORES ON THE CONSCIENTIOUS AND GROUP-DEPENDENT DIMENSIONS. ACTIVITY LOG DATA REVEALED INFORMATION ABOUT THE AVERAGE TIME SPENT ON THE JOB, TYPE OF PERSON WITH WHOM THE CSO WORKED, COMMUNICATION USED, AND PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED. RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON THE SURVEY WERE PROVIDED. (GB)