Research has consistently shown that principal leadership matters for successful schools. Evaluating principals on the behaviors shown to improve student learning should be an important leverage point for raising leadership quality. Yet principals are often evaluated with the use of instruments with no theoretical background and little, if any,…

For the National Center to Improve Policy and Practice in Special Education Professional Development, a group of district administrators recently completed an analysis of state policy on induction and mentoring. State policy is important because it helps districts design and deliver induction programs and supplements local resources that are made…

This study investigated the interactive effects of supervising principals' and preservice principals' leadership styles on preservice principals' pre and post internship concerns about becoming a principal. These findings suggest that the principal's leadership style is an influential determinant of preservice principals' concerns about becoming a…

In this study, we examined the use of power in the supervisory relationship from supervisees' perspectives. Semistructured interviews of 11 supervisees in a Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education training program were conducted. From analysis of interview transcripts, themes about the ways in which supervisors and…

Purpose: This exploratory study examines conditions that lead elementary principals to support the work of school-based instructional teacher leaders. The study asks, How do principals' knowledge of teacher leadership and their interaction with teacher leaders contribute to principals' support for teacher leadership? And, How might district…

This report describes teacher response to selected aspects of supervision as it exists for teachers in grades one through four in one Georgia school system. Teachers were surveyed to determine their responses to assistance provided by a supervisor to individual teachers or groups of teachers through activities relevant to teacher development,…

A research study investigated the relationship between personal characteristics and selected demographic data of 75 attendants in a mental retardation developmental center and the assessment by 24 administrators of the attendants' job performance. Instruments used included a 20-item Direct Care Performance Scale and the Demographic Data Scale,…

Summarizes survey results from 138 technology, engineering, and occupational education administrators on topics of demographics, training, experience, and competencies. Current and future skills required are listed along with interest in professional improvement opportunities. Significant differences in competency levels between subgroups are…

Describes an instructional performance engineering model for changing ineffective instructional practices. The model postulates that attempts to change instructor practices should concentrate on instructional performance variables that can be directly influenced: information, instrumentation, and motivation. The model relates these variables to…

From a sample of over 1,000 advertisements for school superintendent positions, this study compiles a list of qualifications and tasks required of most superintendents and indicates the trends in school board expectations of superintendents. The author first notes the degree of education preferred by school boards in their superintendents and then…

The research on supervision and school effectiveness suggests that principals acting as supervisors of instruction make a difference in teacher performance and pupil learning. This study investigated whether effective clinical supervision requires supervisors who practice certain strategies and procedures as they dialogue with supervisees, or…

Summarizes results of a study exploring verbal communication processes of supervisors and teachers involved in teacher development conferences. Highlights supervisors' need for leadership and effective communication skills in observation sessions, so that both inexperienced and self-confident teachers will be encouraged to improve instructional…

Recent studies of the perceptions of teachers and supervisors about the benefits of teacher supervision show clear disagreement between the two groups. Supervisors see their efforts as helpful to teachers, whereas teachers consider supervision ineffectual. This document reports on research conducted to test the theory that positive…

This document reports on a study to determine differential attitudes of experienced and inexperienced teachers toward supervision and evaluation. The basic hypothesis was that experienced teachers would have significantly different attitudes toward the concepts of supervision and evaluation than would inexperienced interns. A sample of 100…

The first of a projected series of three studies addressing the differing organizational contexts of the special education director's work and the resulting consequences, this investigation examined the work of a special education director in a "staff" position with respect to the consequences to the district at this organizational…