It is not easy being a principal. The principal's job is not just set the vision for a school, but also to make sure that everyone embraces that vision and works to make it a reality. In the process, principals will be occasionally be seen as "enforcers." Principals must make hard decisions, and virtually no decision is appreciated by everyone.…

Often blindsided by parental anger, principals have little time to prepare for the ensuing conflict. When confronting an angry parent, principals are advised to demonstrate confidence, establish ground rules providing a nonthreatening environment conducive to discussion, keep focused, ask questions, and create pauses in the discussion for…

The author presents ideas on what the school administrator should know in order to successfully manage conflict situations so that the conflict does not impede school functioning, and suggests that proper handling of the inevitable conflict situations that arise can bring about group cohesiveness and unity. (KC)

The paper addresses practical issues involved for building principals in mediating to determine the most "free appropriate public education" for handicapped children and avoiding due process hearings. Mediation is viewed as an ongoing process, and the harmful effects of legal battles over a child's placement or evaluation are noted. The paper…

This book is designed for school principals, for principal figures in a company or in a home, and for those who are the "principal" figure in their own lives. According to the author, it contains ideas "that will help you manage daily life intelligently and compassionately and make tomorrow more manageable." It contains quotes that are selected…

Presents a theoretical construct of teacher supervision within the time constraints common to most principals. Offers suggestions for modifying the preconference, observation, postconference cycle of teacher evaluation to make it more efficient and effective. (FL)

Without fear, there is no courage, only ignorance of a situation's dynamics. Acknowledging a decision's liabilities promotes fear and forces the educational leader to exercise courage in formulating and carrying out a response to that situation. Courage alone is not enough, however, and could lead to professional suicide. Wisdom to marshal that…

School principals are regularly confronted with conflicting priorities and perplexing dilemmas. This book shares some of the sense that practicing principals have made of their own complex work. Arguing that there are no textbook solutions to most school problems, the book proposes looking at leadership as a quest. It identifies seven persisting…

Designed to help school business managers understand management-labor relations, this handbook outlines a managerial approach to negotiations designed to protect the local educational agency's needs. The principles and philosophy of negotiations as well as its legal setting are presented in the introduction and first two chapters. Chapters 3, 4,…

Based on the assumption that the survival of the nation's schools and their leaders depends on these leaders having real influence over the quality of schooling, this volume draws from the work of many authorities to look at leadership from three perspectives: the person, the structure, and the skills. Chapters focusing on the person who holds the…