DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS SKILLS INDICATORS IN DIGITAL ERA UNDER THE SECONDARY EDUCATION SERVICE AREA OFFICE IN THE UPPER NORTHEASTERN REGION

Abstract

Abstract

This research article aimed to (1) study the components and indicators of educational administrators’ competencies in the digital era under the Secondary Educational Service Area Offices in the Upper Northeastern Region of Thailand, and                       (2) examine the consistency and goodness-of-fit of the structural relationship model of competency indicators of educational administrators in the digital era with empirical data. The study employed a quantitative research design. The population consisted of 11,049 teachers from 296 secondary schools under the jurisdiction of the Secondary Educational Service Area Offices in the Upper Northeastern Region. A sample of 380 teachers was selected using stratified random sampling based on school size. The research instrument was a questionnaire developed by the researcher through the synthesis of relevant documents, research studies, and theoretical frameworks. It comprised five main components, nineteen sub-components, and seventy indicators. The instrument was validated for content validity by three experts and had a reliability coefficient of 0.95. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test the model’s fit with the empirical data.

The findings revealed that educational administrators’ competencies in the digital era comprised five main components: (1) technology utilization, (2) vision, (3) creativity, (4) communication, and (5) human relations. The component with the highest factor loading was “technology utilization,” followed by “vision” and “creativity.” The developed structural model demonstrated a very good fit with the empirical data (χ² = 2.905, df = 2, p = 0.234, GFI = 0.997, CFI = 0.999, RMR = 0.006, RMSEA = 0.035, NFI = 0.997), indicating that the identified components and indicators effectively explained the competency structure of educational administrators in the digital era.