Higher education has changed significantly over the past 50 years, and the individuals who provide leadership for these institutions has similarly changed. The pathway to the college presidency, once the domain of academic administration, has diversified as an increasing number of development officers, student affairs and enrollment management…

In "Forces of Influence," Fred Ende and Meghan Everette contend that schoolwide success starts with relationships--not only between students and adults, but also among all adults up and down the education hierarchy. It's by leveraging these relationships that educators can influence outcomes and effect real change. But how can educators…

Noting that the first decade of the new millennium is sure to see continuing efforts to reform curriculum and classroom practices by implementing the middle school concept, this booklet answers middle school teachers' most pressing questions about the cornerstone of the middle school concept, integrated curriculum. The 20 questions addressed…

This case is designed to highlight issues related to data inquiry in education, the role of leaders (specifically building-level administrators) in setting conditions for effective data conversations on teams, and the challenge of developing and deepening data use in a school over time. It was created based on interviews with a real elementary…

Nathaniel Stone, the principal of Lakeshore Community High School, was summoned to a meeting in the city. The gathering included more than a dozen influential leaders. The conversation that unfolded was, literally, unreal. Mr. Smith, a government official of sorts, called for the destruction of a social movement that was having a positive effect…

Leaders must know how to use evidence to inform district decisions, particularly as decisions related to learning become standard practice, and provide professional development that builds the organizational capacity needed to support continuous and sustainable district improvement. Collaboration and implementation of a shared vision and mission…

A principal's most important role is instructional leader. There is a growing recognition of the importance of working with teachers, serving as a mentor and coach. Coaching has emerged as one of the more effective professional development options for adult learners. It is an important tool because it is an investment in human capital and in the…

An administrator, broadly conceived, is a person who has authority to lead and manage people, practices, materials, and policies in an educational unit. Dan Tannacito shows teachers the pathway to becoming English language program administrators (ELPAs) and the myriad benefits they can derive. Most may be surprised to see that they are already on…

With all of the reform models, research-based programs, leadership training, and professional development focused on reading and writing, we certainly know more about literacy today than we ever have before. So why are schools still suffering with low literacy levels? The answer lies in ineffective and unbalanced literacy instruction. Through the…

Mandated literacy assessment is now a ubiquitous practice in many western educational systems. While educational researchers, principals, teachers and education unions continue to offer vociferous resistance in some nations, in others it is now commonplace in the educational landscape and built into the rhythms of the school year. This paper is…

The term, "professional learning community" has become so common place in schools that it is used to refer to almost any type of collaborative work. But the "professional learning community" suggested first in the early 1990's described a school where teachers and administrators continuously worked to learn and then act upon what they learned. The…

This case study explains the functional or practical difficulties that many organizations face when they change their leaders. By describing the experiences of the two principals, two distinct styles of leadership are displayed, each of which provides the reader with the opportunity to understand some aspects of frames in organizations:…

Teacher collaboration is an essential element of substantive school change for which principals have responsibility for cultivating. As such, it is becoming increasingly important for school leaders to employ models of supervision that focus on the performance and improvement of collective teacher behavior. In this article, the authors present a…

A principal's role in high leadership capacity schools is discussed. Principals and teachers travel through three phases as their schools build high leadership capacity that sustains improvement.

Each of the chapters in this unique book was written expressly for each major stakeholder group in a school, tailored to their varied needs and experiences. Each chapter contains a set of inter-related practical activities so that each group focuses on the same goals and supports the others. No other book on school improvement includes a chapter…