The research is clear in considering the management leadership as one of the key factors that determines school quality. Indeed, there is consistent empirical evidence showing a significant relationship, however indirect, between leaders work and the students’ academic performance (eg Cotton, 2003; Waters, Marzano and McNulty, 2003; Witziers, Bosker, and Kruger, 2003; Leithwood, Louis, Anderson and Wahlstrom, 2004; Levacic, 2005). Not just that, some researchers have come to estimate the contribution, thus, for example, Waters, Marzano and McNulty (2003) assert that student performance can be increased a 0.25 standard deviations based due to the principal work; and Leithwood and Riehl (2003) argue that 20% of school contribution to student achievement it is as a result of the school leader work.

This research delves into how much time the principal spend to perform their functions in Latin American Primary Schools, and how do they distribute that time and which is the effect of this distribution in the student performance.

The study about how principals allocate their time at school has been a research productive line that has provided interesting international data, which has helped improving the lieder performance. Thus, form the 80's up to date there have been many studies that have addressed this issue (eg, Fitzgerald, 1996; Murillo and Barrio, 1999; Larry, 2003; Rayfield and Diamond, 2004; Taylor, 2007; Buttram, Mead, Loftus and Wilson, 2008; Walker, 2009).

These studies let to know which are the tasks that the school leaders are devoted to. But in addition the variations in time distribution depending on variables such as gender, age, manager experience, or the size and school characteristics have been analyzed; the differences between the real and the ideal distribution, in the protagonists opinion, as well as the incidence on the student performance and the school procedures.

However, few studies have focused on Latin American principals. There rises the Iberoamerican Research on School Effectiveness that, analyzing the principal’s work from 91 schools in 8 countries in the Region (Murillo, 2007), a significant relationship between pedagogical work and student achievement was found.

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