This study uses the professional community as an organizing metaphor of schools and traces its relationship to principal leadership practices. It asks the following questions: (a) How does a principal create, foster, and support professional community? (b) How does leadership or existing organizational culture aid or impede attainment of school…

An administrator in a school for the deaf details concerns in implementing a computer assisted instruction program. He touches upon the state's bureaucratic approach to decision making, funding, the importance of changing the system to meet current needs, and selection of appropriate technology. (CL)

Describes the joys and frustrations of serving as head of a university English department. (AEA)

For the past half a century, the New York City public school system has undergone major transformations in its organization. The 1950s and 1960s community control movement led to decentralization of the school system in 1969. The school system broke into 32 community school districts, with superintendents appointed by local community school…

Many people are unaware of how principals invest their time on a day-to-day basis. This paper presents findings of a case study that examined the managerial behavior of a first-year elementary school principal. Data were derived from observation of the principal on two separate days. The findings show that the principal spent a significant amount…

During the 1980s educational administration preparation programs were criticized as being irrelevant to professional administrative life. In response to this criticism, the University Council for Educational Administration reviewed preparation programs in a report entitled "Leader's for America's Schools." The review found that there was…

Colleges and universities have a unique organizational culture that influences the decision-making processes used by leaders of higher education. This paper presents findings of a study that attempted to identify the theoretical frameworks that administrators of higher education use to guide their decision-making processes. The following…

Two trends have become issues for school management in recent years. One is that educational leadership is becoming increasingly a more complex and difficult job to carry out and the other is that an increasing number of people with little administrative experience are moving into educational roles. The implementation of local, school…

Educational research typically overlooks the significance of the superintendent in improvement efforts. The superintendent must not only be a good manager, but must also provide leadership, direction, vision, and purpose, and must establish an atmosphere conducive to learning. Because effective communication is vital, and in order to avoid…

Nearly 80,000 scholars currently serve as department chairs, and almost one-quarter will need to be replaced each year. Such a high turnover rate is partly due to surprises and unexpected sacrifices embedded in the department chair position. In an effort to help professors prepare for and overcome unforseen tradeoffs, the University Council for…

Many college and university administrators have responded to the recent increase in hateful incidents on campus by putting hate speech codes into place. The establishment of speech codes has sparked a heated debate over the impact that such codes have upon free speech and First Amendment values. Some commentators have suggested that viewing hate…

This study examined the status of the interim presidency at public research/doctorate-granting universities. A questionnaire soliciting demographic data on interim presidential utilization was sent to the institutional research offices at 134 universities, and the returned questionnaires, 20 interim presidents were selected to participate in…

Principals are witnessing major shifts in who is involved in making decisions while at the same time they receive mixed messages from their superiors about what a good principal should do. Researchers associated with Claremont Project VISION interviewed principals and administrator association leaders in school districts. Five school districts are…

Despite a growing body of literature on the school superintendency, little is known about the role, influence, and satisfaction of district superintendents when school boards make compensation decisions for principals. This exploratory study, which reported findings from a sample of 215 Pennsylvania superintendents, attempted to identify and…

A study was conducted which continued the investigation of the underlying structure of supervision by empirically testing Bernard's (1979) model of supervision using a confirmatory multidimensional scaling paradigm. To accomplish this, counselor trainees' perceptions of the underlying structure (dimensionality or cognitive map) of supervision were…