The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) has ushered in a new era of flexibility for state policies and practices related to low-performing schools. Will the states make changes? What aspects of change will need additional support? This descriptive, mixed methods study uses survey data from turnaround leaders in all 50 states and an extant document…

This study investigated what university and college department chairpersons believe are the most important duties of their position, how they view their roles, and the relationship of perceived roles and duties. Possible role definitions included seeing department chair work as leader, scholar, faculty developer, or manager. The study surveyed 800…

Informal notes are presented from conference discussions by 18 newly appointed chairmen, three highly successful resource people who could draw on their own experiences as department heads, and several additional special discussion leaders. Topics of interest to the department chairmen were covered, including the chairman's pivotal role, dealing…

Six division chairpersons at Central Virginia Community College participated in a study designed to develop a problem situation set which can be used to examine academic managers' preferred decision processes; to identify the existing preferred decision processes of chairpersons within the community college setting; and to ascertain how problem…

State-level administrator certification requirements were studied with respect to student-assessment expectations, using responses of state certification offices. Only 18 states require some form of student-assessment knowledge and skills, and only Washington state requires the assessment competencies promulgated by the National Policy Board for…

Information is presented on a study which investigated the managerial role of the academic department chair and compared it to a study of traditional managers. The study compared management activities to determine whether or not there was a difference between academic management and management outside of the university setting. It made use of the…

Within the academy the commonly held definition of plagiarism--using another's words, ideas, or stylistic individuality without attribution--is widespread, appearing on most English course syllabi. Judicial guidelines are followed: neither stealing nor ignorance of the law is to be sanctioned. Furthermore, penalties for students can be severe: a…

This paper discusses development of the department chair, focusing on the need to build leadership capacity in colleges and universities. It suggests that it takes many years to become an expert, noting that one of the most glaring shortcomings in the leadership area is the scarcity of sound research on leadership training and development.…

The strategies presented in this report are suggested as ways to make decision makers at all levels of education more aware of the benefits of educational technology (ET) in improving the effectiveness, efficiency, and enjoyment of learning. These strategies emphasizing results and learning are provided, not to limit any person or group, but to…

This study was designed to examine the school's role as a context of professional community for secondary school teachers. The literature suggests that conditions of shared goals, coherent instructional plans and curriculum, and collaboration within a faculty is largely a matter of effective site management. This paper questions the top down view…

Findings are reported of data gathered from state education agency staff members and from constituents as to the perceived and desired roles of the agency. The study was based on the assumption that the perceptions were, of themselves, useful information. The major emphasis was on gathering and analyzing perceptions with only secondary emphasis…

The goal of the study described here is to develop a research agenda for more in-depth analyses of the relation certain teaching characteristics may have to student outcomes. Rating and ranking scales were designed and administered to examine perceptions about teaching characteristics held by administrators, academic department chairpeople…

This ethnography explores the leadership qualities of a public school district media director, the person who "orchestrates" the use of technology. Using observation, interviews, and artifact analysis, the following questions were investigated: (1) What are the beliefs and values which underlie this media director's decisions?; (2) What are the…

This paper presents a study that examined the "encounter" stage (adaptation to the new role) of a faculty member who is promoted to Department Chair. The quantitative study consisted of a national survey of 808 Department Chairs from 101 universities categorized as Research I and II and Doctorate granting I and II by the Carnegie Council.…

The Regional Interstate Planning Project (RIPP) is composed of representatives from ten state departments of education who meet periodically to discuss topical educational issues of general concern. RIPP member states include Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. This particular booklet reports…