The reform bandwagon has brought about a glut of legislation under the term "education reform." Efforts to define this term have been unsatisfactory. A study by Flanigan et al. attempted to define the term education reform, but it discovered that each state had developed its own definition and program. This finding was a result of a survey sent to…

The role of the assistant principal, complete with duties and responsibilities, has not yet been successfully defined. Although assistant principals are often limited to responsibilities such as discipline or bus duty, their role should encompass much more. Assistant principals want to be more than disciplinarians; they want to be included in the…

Administration is defined as the enactment of moral choices influencing subordinates within an organizational setting. It is distinguished from management, which is considered to involve a lower level of discretion. Educational administration is therefore in the moral domain; it involves discretionary, moral choices in a field that is itself moral…

The school principalship has undergone change in the past decade. Principals are expected to make daily decisions in the best interests of students within their school systems. Secondary school principals are socialized to choose between idealized (or desired) tasks and conventional (or actual) tasks associated with their job. A literature review…

Techniques and characteristics of effective management in the arts are briefly outlined. The successful arts manager is identified as an integrator, or one who takes initiative and leadership, seeks status, has social poise, and prefers more flexible ways of acting. The role of the arts administrator includes planning; selecting and coordinating…

This study explored actual on-the-job behavior of superintendents to develop a composite view of administrative behavior. Eight superintendents working within a 150-mile radius of Edmonton were observed at work and structural data was recorded. Findings from the observational technique used were supplemented by data collected through interviews…

The effect of political influences on the allocation of personnel, money, facilities, and equipment by elementary school principals is discussed in this paper. The use of Zald's political economy framework as a tool for understanding the principal's role in allocating resources is described by the author. He suggests that the principal occupies a…

This is a speech by the Dean of Student Affairs for Women at Jackson State University on the subject of racism in higher education. The bias against blacks in testing and admission procedures is mentioned. The need for administrators to confront and remove their own biased racial attitudes, and to develop an atmosphere for equal opportunity and…

In order to play a proper role in the making of sound academic policy, the Board of Trustees must begin by taking itself seriously, and the first place for that is the choice of its members. It is essential that some members of the Board should be present or recent members of the professional academic community--teachers, research workers,…

Speaking in his capacity as trustee, the author deals with the role of trustees in academic decisionmaking. He emphasizes the pivotal nature of that role, arguing that because the institution's basic activity is public business, the management of it must clearly link reasonability with public accountability. He supports the prevailing faculty view…

The Superintendent of Worcester, Massachusetts, public schools (1) discusses the relationship between equity and excellence in education, and (2) encourages Massachusetts administrators to provide students and their parents with excellent programs and with choices among programs. (GC)

This study focused on one southern state's efforts to implement developmentally appropriate practices through a training program for elementary principals. The purposes of the study were to describe the extent to which developmentally appropriate practices were used in grades K-3 in four schools, and to describe the role of the principals in…

Qatar has recently faced a tremendous reform in education that requires changes in many domains and causes a lot of challenges. A very serious challenge is teachers' retention where many teachers tend to leave their schools looking for new jobs. In independent schools as well as governmental schools, teachers switch jobs and therefore schools…

This paper measures effective leadership preparation and assesses its relationship to what principals learn about leadership, their leadership practices, and school improvement progress and improved school climate (particularly for academic press and continuous improvement). This paper draws on survey research conducted in 2005 with 125 principals…

An administrator had a unique opportunity to participate in the founding of a Louisiana college by becoming the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Because many of the new staff were not experienced in their positions, she found herself mentoring many young people at the same time. It was a role with which she was most comfortable, partly because…