School leadership has been explored as a significant factor determining the effectiveness of various processes in educational organizations, and consequently, the roles of school administrators have altered dramatically, which has become an important subject of educational research for over decades (Carr & Fulmer, 2004; Davies &Ellison, 1997; Dembowski, 1997, Leithwood&Riehl, 2005). The tasks of school principals and assistant principals involve not only managing structural procedures but also dealing with the attitudes, values, motivations and development of various groups, the most significant of whom are students. In this respect, they are also expected to be aware of the students' developmental needs and characteristics (Waters, Cross and Shaw, 2010). As adolescence is a critical phase in human development, secondary and high schools have crucial responsibility in shaping adolescent behaviour and in encouraging them to complete this phase healthily in every aspect (Santrock, 2009; Steinberg, 2002).Specifically, in the secondary level of education, as well as in other levels, school administrators clearly have impact and influence on student development and performance, in addition to teachers, as part of their professional responsibilities.  In this sense, being an effective school leader requires the necessary awareness, the knowledge and a notable approach towards students, the main target audience of the educational services (Brown, Anfara and Gross, 2002). Relevant literature provides some insights. Brown, Anfara and Gross (2002), present a three-part model of principal leadership grounded in the concept of "developmental responsiveness" in effective schooling. Moreover, there exists other studies focusing on certain adolescent behaviours and problems while exploring the related roles and impact of schools and school administrators (Cochran, Turner and Lynn, 1996; Nollen, Befort, Snow, Daley, Ellerbeck and Ahluwalia, 2007). Adolescents experience intensive psychosocial and biological changes based on their age period, and they deserve schools that support them during this key phase. However, the issue of the awareness level and approach of the school administrators towards adolescent development and problems remains unexplored as there is limited research particularly directed at principals. Obviously, high school administrators ought to demonstrate a supportive approach and instructional and cultural leadership in their approach to produce the desired ends in adolescent students' development since this age group is prone to hazardous situations in terms of such areas as health, psychosocial development, addiction, physical and biological development (Brown, 2004; Knowles and Brown, 2000).

Within this frame, this study aims to analyze the perceptions, awareness and approaches of high school administrators towards adolescents in different types of high schools in Ankara, Turkey. Understanding the current state, and the consequent analysis of the needs of high school administrators in this respect, is expected to contribute to the educational administration knowledge base and leader preparation programs, and further to stand as a preliminary step for a nationwide study. The research questions, therefore, are:

What do high school administrators know about adolescence?

How aware are they about adolescent development?

What do they consider as adolescence problems?

How do they approach adolescents and address their needs?

What are their professional needs in terms of approaching adolescents?

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