Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of principals in light of public management reforms taking place in the German educational system and in reference to the empirical patterns uncovered by the papers contained in the Special Issue. Policy makers have created new expectations and new technologies that seem to suggest to…

The last decade or so has seen an emerging literature supporting the position that school leaders and school leadership are important. This article argues, however, that recent developments in the area of school leadership have led to an orthodoxy that needs to be challenged and tested. It is an orthodoxy that has been driven essentially by those…

Contemporary educational leaders should realize that America's political system of governance is not particularly democratic in the sense that the people rule. While popular elections occur in the U.S., participation rates by citizens are notoriously low, particularly at the local level. In very practical terms, the U.S. is less of a democratic…

Educational leaders in the United States are faced with a society seeking instantaneous perfection, immediate and perfect solutions. In education, this leads to a demand for push-button administration and an abandonment of trust in educators' judgment. As exemplified by the No Child Left Behind Act (2002), the search for quick fixes results in…

The administrative process research of four prominent sets of researchers of the 1950's is examined in light of the mode of scientific inquiry that prevailed. Analysis of four currently prominent sets of researchers in terms of present multiple ideologies reveals that researchers still work within a logical positivist framework. (MJL)

This paper proposes a method for understanding the relationships among the various value systems that underlie administrative thinking. The system takes into account the psychological faculties affecting ethical decisions, the philosophical orientations involved, and distinctions between the concepts of "right" and "good." The paper opens with…

The field of educational administration has a major credibility problem in academe because it is seen to lack a convincing theoretical base. In the practical world of politics, management, and teaching, it appears that educational values are easily rendered marginal in policy making and that team and institutional leaders lack a sophisticated…

Tables of general characteristics of philosophies, administrative theories, and administrative practices related to the theories are presented to help school administrators assess their own beliefs and values and move toward the consistent conceptual framework necessary for improving their administrative behavior. (MJL)

This book identifies what leaders need to do to create high-performing, self-renewing organizations. The emphasis is on action rather than theory, and the short passages are designed for quick perusal. The book emphasizes the notion that most elements of leadership can be learned; the only inherent character trait needed for effective leadership…

The commentary on this special issue on leadership summarizes the articles and claims that they take a different stance from previous research by legitimizing the subjective realities of practice, emphasizing meaning, and acknowledging the moral as a source of authority for what happens in school. (12 references) (MLF)

Administrative team management is the best way to provide direction and leadership to an individualistic group of professionals such as educators. Some suggestions to make management teams run smoothly are: (1) use the team to gather facts; (2) make sure the team works with the people (teachers, parents, and business people) who may be affected by…

A discussion of the importance of skeptical probing in educational administration considers fundmental philosophical concerns, issues in inquiry, several theoretical frameworks, sociology of knowledge perspectives, and implications for educational administration programs. Philosophy suggests the best source of knowledge in a field as diverse as…

A comparison of leadership theory and administrative theory will help to show whether there is a conflict for educational administrators between being a leader and being an administrator. Two definitions of leadership stress the importance of initiating activities within a group. In education, leadership necessitates decision-making within an…

This paper explores the nature of the contribution that can be made to administrative theory by recent developments in the philosophy of science and the emerging new views of science: notably, the arguments of Richard Bates and Thomas Greenfield. These emerging views of science can sustain a science of administration that escapes their major…

This essay examines the growth of professionalism in educational administration and concludes that early promise was not fulfilled, mainly because social and political factors influenced training programs and practice more than did research and theory. Areas in which educational administration still falls short of professionalism are discussed.…