Interviews with 10 elementary/secondary St. John's (Newfoundland) principals revealed impacts of collective bargaining on principal's role in teacher evaluation including more formalized relationship with staff, increased involvement of school boards, reservations over ability to adequately evaluate teachers, greater centralization of authority,…

Successful curriculum implementation must be deliberate, planned, and supervised. Characteristics affecting the success of curriculum innovations include the degree of change from the status quo, complexity, explicitness, practicality, and comparative advantage of the curriculum. Teachers' personalities, comprehension, and willingness to…

A profile of deans in Canadian higher education (their background, career patterns, role characteristics, and professional development needs) is presented. Data were collected by a questionnaire mailed to all deans and directors in public degree-granting institutions in Canada. Deans were found to be much like their professional colleagues.…

In interviews and simulated decision-making tasks, eight Alberta principals identified seven social and political values, five basic human values, and three moral values affecting their school-based decisions. Values also influenced conflict resolution and were related to orientation to the principal role. Contains 20 references. (SV)

Examines site-based management's effects on schools, using a Canadian framework and drawing on research from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia. As branches carrying the "corporate line," schools still lack local decision-making flexibility. Principals' workload is more demanding, and student learning outcomes have not…

Metaphors are useful for creating new meanings and making assumptions explicit. This paper describes the metaphors that four female principals used to conceptualize their thinking about leadership and power. Data were derived from observations and interviews with the principals, who had been identified by their school boards as outstanding…

Three issues concerning educational policy making are examined in this paper: (1) Who has the power to affect major policies in Canadian postsecondary education? (2) How does a shift in power affect educational policy making? and (3) How can institutional management best respond to this power? After presenting a rationale for its focus on power,…

This article describes the political realities of the principalship in Ontario. It describes trends in the political position of Ontario school principals with reference to three major arenas: the provincial legislature boards of education, and the schools themselves. It has relevance for school administrators in the U. S. (Editor)

Adapted from an address given at the CEA Short Course, Banff, May 1969.

A study of the influence of academic discipline, sex and nationality on the definition of the role of the head of a university department indicates the importance of discipline, the coordinator or representative role, and the lack of influence of nationality on expectations. (JMF)

With data from 256 school principals in Manitoba, this study examined the effect of external environmental constraints upon the various types and sources of job-related stress. Results indicated that external pressures triggered extraorganizational and intraorganizational stress as well as the less obvious intrapersonal stress. (TE)

Summarizes results of an in-depth study of 25 elementary and middle schools in 11 districts in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Some schools were actively restructuring; others were going through the motions of school-based management with little instructional change. The most successful SBM plans were those that empowered new decision…

Because collaborative school cultures seem essential for better schools, culture-building should be a primary role for principals. Data from two comprehensive studies of school improvement in Canada suggest that principals foster collaborative cultures by applying certain strategies, depending on the degree of teacher motivation and commitment and…

Reduction in the size of classes from Kindergarten to Grade 3 was a major Liberal Party campaign promise in Ontario's 2003 provincial election. It was intended to demonstrate a new government's commitment to improving public education. By the 2008-09 school year, the provincial government's goals had been achieved: over 90% of all primary classes…