School improvement plans are strategic documents most schools complete on an annual basis. Research on school improvement planning highlights that high-quality plans contribute to student achievement gains, but many plans are of poor quality. Principals serve in a critical role within the school improvement process. In this article, we review…

This article, as an opinion piece, considers the importance of developing a succession plan that can be implemented when a vacancy occurs in school leadership. While succession planning is a common practice within corporations, businesses and governments, schools also have to be thoughtful and prepared for change. A change in leadership can be…

This case considers the literacy leadership practices of Principal Howard at Pinecrest Academy Title I elementary school in the southeastern United States. An award-winning school, Pinecrest Academy serves over 500 students, 98% of whom are students of color. Through the lens of instructional leadership for literacy and culturally responsive…

This paper reviews one of the policies which have been removed from implementation as a management approach (Total Quality Approach) in education. The main argument is that barrowing policies from abroad without considering to what extend the characteristics of the existing system would suit to the intended approach or to what extend the major…

It is no secret that successful school leadership starts with the principal. But who is taking care of school principals and ensuring their well-being? A principal's needs must be addressed before they can effectively address the needs of their school community. District leadership must prioritize the needs of principals who in turn, will empower…

Employing Jurgen Habermas's notions of communicative and strategic action (1984), this paper draws on case studies of principals' decision making practices in three sites of Finland, Australia and Jamaica. The research examined principals' understandings of educational autonomy as a part of their practices of decision making. The paper argues that…

The premise of this article is that studies of distributed leadership could benefit from further incorporation of institutional approaches to better understand complex reform demands facing school leaders working for instructional improvement. We begin by articulating the core components of a distributed perspective on leadership and of an…

Since the 1990s, New Public Management has been a part of Argentina's educational policies. Mainly, school-centered management and strategic planning are seen as imperative for establishing and sustaining schools' efficiency. Delegating commitment and responsibility to schools is the key of this managerial logic. Here, we will analyze the dynamics…

Education and training systems need the right tools and processes to plan and develop their digital capacity. SELFIE for work-based learning (SELFIE WBL) provides one such tool. SELFIE stands for self-reflection on effective learning by fostering the use of innovative educational technologies. SELFIE WBL is a self-reflection tool for vocational…

The Middle-Grades Leadership Development (MLD) Project was designed to develop principal leaders and leadership teams who create high-performing middle-grades schools. Designed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, the four-year project was funded from 2013 to 2017 by a U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3)…

Women aspiring to be principals and superintendents in the U.S. public school system have little information concerning optimum career paths to leadership. This article considers recent research and theory regarding career planning in the context of K-12 schools, and the different approaches adopted by male and female aspirants. The choice of…

The notion of localism and decentralization in national policy has come increasingly to the fore in recent years. The national succession planning strategy for headteachers in England introduced by the National College for School Leadership promoted "local solutions for a national challenge". This article deals with some aspects of the…

The February 2011 Canterbury earthquake was a dramatic reminder of the need for schools to have emergency management plans in place. A number of other disaster and hazard events have historically caused New Zealand schools to close temporarily, and often within a short time frame. At such times principals must act decisively and communicate…

The chapter examines school administrator responsibilities to special education students and their families from case scenarios based on conflicts between parents and districts regarding services provided by schools to special education students. From these case studies based on real case law, readers are exposed to situations intended to pose…

This meta-analysis examines current North American research on the work of school principals in the special education milieu. More specifically, it considers how elementary and secondary principals envision and act in ways that foster inclusion within a school community. Three core special education-oriented domains arose in the 19 studies…