Independent schools face a head of school problem, as sitting heads of schools approach retirement at a high rate. The head of school role is complex, all-encompassing, and the newly appointed head of school is likely ill equipped to manage the role without mentorship. There is a gap in the literature regarding what challenges a newly appointed…

Women in the field of education are strongly represented in the classroom but are much less likely to become school district superintendents. For decades, women have continued to attain the top district leadership role at a rate of slightly less than one to four, compared to their male counterparts. The purpose of this study was to understand how…

Exploring principals' experiences with early career mentorship is relevant to the overall success of schools. However, scholars explain there is more to understand about mentorship for school leaders. Guided by Kram's (1983) Theory of Mentoring, this qualitative descriptive phenomenological study explored how principals with recent mentorship…

The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to examine the co-teaching experiences of secondary choir teachers in associate director positions in the state of Texas. We interviewed 12 participants, who had held an associate director position for at least 3 years, two times across a 4-month period. Three themes emerged from the data:…

The role of the principal in leading schools is vital to the success of the school. Mentors play a critical role in supporting educational leadership candidates during the clinical experience at the graduate level. This qualitative embedded single case design study explores the perceptions of mentors related to support from IHEs, collaboration,…

This applied dissertation was designed to increase the understanding of novice principals' perceptions of mentoring to support and improve the professional abilities of new principals. Although the advantages of principal mentoring are acknowledged, it is not widespread. There is a dearth of literature discussing the perspectives of mentees on…

Assistant principals typically begin their careers as teachers and transition to the role of assistant principal after completing a certification program that characteristically focuses on the principalship. Once they move into the role of assistant principal, many feel unprepared as the job responsibilities, assigned by the principal, usually…

Women in education are strongly represented in the classroom but are much less likely to become school district superintendents. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand how women who have been superintendents for at least 3 years experienced mentoring and role preparation as they worked to attain the position. A transcendental…

Many professions have long runways to leadership, with mentorship and increasing levels of responsibility. In contrast, the path to school leadership has historically not been well-defined. But that is changing. The role of assistant principals has become a major stepping stone to the principalship. Once thought of primarily as disciplinarians,…

The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to examine how mentoring support systems, race and gender intersectional challenges shape the pathway for five African-American women principals in a South Texas urban school district. The researcher used a semi-structured interview question protocol, audio-recorded, and professionally transcribed…

This phenomenological research study was based on elementary school teachers who felt unsupported by their principals, due to lack of frequent reviews and pertinent evaluations. In previous research studies, researchers stated that many elementary teachers were frustrated, changed schools frequently, retired early, or left the teaching profession…

The purpose of this multisite phenomenological case of study of elementary principals was to describe the essence of leadership of novice principals, studying themes of leadership attributes and conditions within the school community and preparation that reinforce the success of the school. While many studies have focused on the leadership…

The significance of this study was to give an active voice to the experiences of women superintendents. By giving voice to the lived experiences of women superintendents, the study sought to further understand the phenomenon of women dominating the teaching profession and other entry-level positions in education yet having a noticeably limited…

Vice-principals' (VPs) work is intensifying in its complexity and volume but the changing nature of their work is not thoroughly documented. This article focuses on the often-overlooked VP's role and records the factors that evidence the intensifying work conditions for VPs. The data for this article come from a large-scale online survey that has…

Effective recruitment and retention strategies of teachers remain elusive for school districts. This study examines the pilot implementation of a year-long teacher residency program throughout four high-needs districts. This program embeds eight residents in these schools and provides various teacher preparation supports to support these beginning…