Formal organizations share a common set of characteristics that include identifiable operating principles and coordinating mechanisms as well as lines of authority and communication. However, some organizations--especially those on the margins of institutional fields--creatively combine institutional and anti-institutional characteristics. This…

The purpose of this document is to serve as a resource for states, districts, professional organizations, teacher education programs, teachers, and others as they develop policies and programs to prepare, license, support, evaluate, and reward today's teachers. A systemic approach and supportive infrastructure are essential to successful…

During 2009-10 the University of Ballarat implemented the open-source learning management system (LMS) "Moodle" alongside its existing legacy LMS, "Blackboard". While previous IT implementations have been troublesome at the university, notably the student information and finance management systems in 2008-09, the…

The academic credit hour, developed over 100 years ago, does not accommodate online and other instructional innovations. The academic credit hour is an Industrial Age metric based on seat-time, or contact time that faculty and students spend together in a classroom. Online education does not require that students and faculty be in the same place…

"Sport Governance and Policy Development" is written with the sport management student in mind. Designed to address the curriculum standards set by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education and the North American Society for Sport Management, this book provides information to meet core and related competency areas required for the…

Since his retirement in 2005, UC-Berkeley's Associate Vice Chancellor and CIO Emeritus and current ECAR fellow John (Jack) McCredie has devoted much of his professional energy to studying and writing/speaking about IT governance and leadership in higher education. In his role at UC-Berkeley, he was responsible for leading central IT support for…

The complex nature of a school district demands a unique relationship between the superintendent and the board president. Forging a positive relationship requires a special kind of navigational skill. The author draws lessons for doing so from David Hargreaves' classic 1975 book "Interpersonal Relations and Education". The author outlines some…

This article analyzes the implications of a particular conception of social justice in education for the policies that have led to significant political controversies in contemporary communities in the United States. Many of these controversies have arisen from the collision between the increasingly multicultural reality in those communities and…

Critical discourse analysis was employed to examine the narratives collected from 40 community college administrators who were asked to recount their experience in an event, activity, or decision that challenged their values. The analysis yielded three findings. First, contradictions emerged between the administrators' educational and professional…

Business leaders and their academic trainers must embrace the concept of sustainability to prepare future leaders with the understanding and tools necessary to make key decisions based on more than "just the numbers." The economic competitiveness of this country and the survival of our species require a deeper understanding of nature if we are to…

The authors tell about their heterogeneous 91 person research and evaluation unit at an operating foundation in St. Paul, Minnesota. They focus on evaluation for program improvement, one of several purposes of studies they work on. The three authors write from their different manager positions within the unit. Included are the context of the…

The role of the school-building principal is vital to the school's overall success and the need for excellent educational leaders is urgent. When school districts are faced with school-building principal succession, the process of replacement can be extremely stressful, so it is critical that the appointment be successful. While much has been…

The purpose of this qualitative, single case study is to explore key leadership principles and strategies related to the "good to great" pattern of growth at Lee University. In order to accomplish this purpose, this study investigates Dr. Paul Conn's thoughts and navigation through times of change, conflict, and the strategic execution of planned…

The purpose of this study was to develop greater depth of understanding regarding educational leadership development in the five north-western provinces (Shaanxi, Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia) of the People's Republic of China. The researchers used a mixed method approach of surveys and focus group interviews to gather data regarding the…

This article clearly defines the three crucial pre-implementation principles to maximize the success of Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) in large high schools. Establishing clear understanding for the need of the SLC initiative is the first of these principles. Long term commitment to a sustained plan for relevant SLC professional learning…