"Small Schools, Education, and the Importance of Community" focuses on three successful approaches for using the school as a catalyst for community development and revitalization, particularly in rural areas. The strategies also work well in suburban and urban areas. The three approaches described include: leadership by K-12 teachers,…

Great leaders are made, not born. Written by the authors of "From Good Schools to Great Schools," this sequel shows how great school leaders can be developed and how leaders can acquire the powerful personal leadership characteristics that the best administrators use to lead their schools to greatness. Based on sound strategies and the work of Jim…

You know how important principals are in advancing student achievement and school success, but it's not been exactly clear which components of the principal's job are the highest priority... until now. Following on the results-based approach from the ASCD best-seller "Qualities of Effective Teachers", James Stronge and his coauthors…

This book illustrates how the ideal of servant leadership can be applied in your school today. With real-life scenarios, discussions, and self assessments, this book gives practical suggestions to help you develop into a caring and effective servant leader. There are 52 scenarios in this book, focusing on situations as varied as: (1) Dealing with…

Examines two areas of accountability associated with the role of ideal dean: planning, which includes developing a strong internal database, and leadership. (PD)

Suggests ways to increase the effectiveness of the role of the director and middle manager in a day-care center: (1) define complementary roles; (2) let requirements of the center dictate responsibilities; (3) let positions reflect the strengths, and the individual needs, of each person; (4) keep each other informed; (5) present a unified front;…

Techniques of conflict resolution are discussed as a means of effecting constructive change. The Collegial, Zero-Sum, and Strategic Negotiation models of conflict are outlined, a sequence of necessary resolution steps is presented, and an approach for arbitrating third-party disputes is proposed. (MSE)

States that, because teaching and scholarship are expected of all faculty, the broad roles that seem unique to the chair are academic and administrative leadership, resource acquisition and allocation, and constituent relationships/boundary spanning. Comments on and amplifies these requirements and discusses some tensions that arise for the…

Several models for improving school effectiveness are now available, and most of them highlight the principal's leadership role. Unfortunately, administrators do not regularly reflect on the important aspects of their professional roles or analyze the factors that may make it difficult for them to implement given models of effectiveness in their…

In 1983 the Far West Laboratory's instructional management program established Peer-Assisted Leadership (PAL), a unique professional development program for principals. No longer isolated, principals help each other develop analytical and other skills to become better instructional leaders. MLH)

Principals can make changes happen, help them happen, or simply let them happen. Effective change leadership involves setting long-term goals, clarifying the school's commitment to work at education, staying on top of innovations, consulting and collaborating with teachers, making decisions, offering support and guidance, and maintaining…

Discusses aspects of leadership theory and concludes that the effective chairperson not only responds to current leadership demands of the situation but also develops a positive history of support and relationships in the organizational group. (PD)

A discussion of the student activities administrator's role in solving substantial problems on the job looks at typical difficult situations and offers models for dealing with them. Each model consists of five practical steps for problem resolution. Situations addressed include emergencies, motivational crises, and externally imposed…

Effective administrative decisions result from the continuous and systematic appraisal of past decisions and of current conditions. Forty observations that may guide secondary school administrators in assessing and improving the effectiveness of their own decision-making processes are presented in this publication. Each observation is accompanied…

Instrumental to successful democratic leadership is the use of committees to solve management problems. In democratic leadership, a leader encourages participation and uses a guidance approach to direct a group toward consensus. This document offers leaders guidelines in effective democratic management of meetings. The authors first discuss the…