Drawing on lessons learned from Wallace-funded research and state-district work in strengthening education leadership, the foundation has produced a paper that discusses the potential as well as the challenges of an emerging concept of leadership called a "Cohesive Leadership System." This cohesive leadership system holds potential for…

The components and outcomes of the Meadows Principal Improvement Program, a principal development program initiated in Texas in 1985, are described in this paper. The program's functional components, are designed to improve the principalship in Texas. These include: (1) a preservice component which seeks to prepare new principals with a focus on…

Leader educators know that demands on leaders of organizations are increasing, requiring different strategies of leading, for example, working in diverse and global environments, using shared decision-making, and developing effective work teams. To educate future leaders in a postmodern era, instructors must attempt nontraditional teaching methods…

Norman Fairclough's discourse analysis, a textual analysis technique, is employed to evaluate a set of national standards for certifying or licensing educational administrators developed by the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC). (PKP)

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) is a nonprofit organization that works collaboratively with Texas and 15 other member states to improve education at every level--from pre-K to postdoctoral study--through many effective programs and initiatives. SREB's "Challenge to Lead" Goals for Education, which call for the region to lead…

States that role-socialization theory is a useful framework for understanding the experiences of new department chairs and for meeting their professional-development needs. Describes the approaches used by 59 chairs in Texas to learn their new jobs, and illustrates the need for formalized chair-training programs. Contains 11 references. (VWC)

Questionnaires were sent to 373 administrators in West Texas school districts with less than 500 students. The purpose of the study was to survey small school administrators' interest in leadership training through inservice education; to explore the areas of such interest; and to determine the preferences for type, location, and duration of such…

Data from four case studies of schools committed to educational reform point to four attributes characterizing school leaders who are effective change agents. Such leaders are child-centered, collaborate with multiple constituencies, process a wide variety of information, and are expert communicators. Suggestions on transforming present-day…

Recently, researchers and practitioners have found that the use of support groups is a productive method for enhancing collegiality, solving problems, and finding solutions in a "climate of mutual trust, respect, and assistance." Although the graduate school curriculum may have been helpful in planting knowledge, growth occurs in the…

The role of Texas school principals has been redefined to include instructional leadership for the planning, operation, supervision, and evaluation of educational programs. This study examined how principal trainees at the College of Education of the University of Houston (Texas) were preparing for their redefined role. It investigated the…

Children benefit academically when parents and educators work together. For this reason, parents' involvement in their children's education is a priority of the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001." But a strong connection between parents and educators does not come about automatically. Both parties may need to learn new roles and skills…

This paper presents a proposal for an alternative principal-certification program, which is to be operated by Tarleton State University (Texas) in collaboration with 10 independent Texas school districts, 4 regional educational service centers, 2 professional associations, and 1 foundation. The New Century Educational Leadership Program (NCELP) is…

Almost unnoticed, growing numbers of working poor people are entering politics at the community level in dozens of major cities in Texas and across the United States. These people are unusual because they view politics as a long-term process to build relationships, new institutions, and humane communities. This book tells the story of a new kind…

The Texas Agricultural Extension Service (TAEX) Literacy Initiative has three major components: literacy awareness, cooperation and coordination with other state agencies and organizations, and programmatic responses. During 1991, the TAEX Literacy Initiative addressed the literacy awareness component through these activities: writing a research…

The organizational and human productivity knowledge-base expansion of the past 5 years indicates that educational leaders and support staff must assume responsibility for schooling together to change student achievement patterns. The sociological management challenge is one of empowering groups to address educational productivity. The…