Recent research on "Brown v. Board of Education" has emphasized continuing disparities in the education of White and African American students. This research has used the failure of desegregation to account for persisting gaps in White and Black school funding, teacher qualifications, and student achievement. But the current focus on the…

Investigates social communications skills of 709 principals working in restructured schools, using the Social Skills Inventory. Results suggest generally marginal social skills among these principals. Positive associations were found between social competence and female gender, higher education levels, larger school size, urban school locus,…

Summarizes an exploratory study to identify administrative stress and socialization variables that affect the attitudes and performance of new and experienced urban principals. The study found that new and experienced principals possessed remarkably similar attitudes and that experienced principals perceive greater role conflict than do new…

As a result of inter- and intranational migrations, urban schools in early 21st-century Western nations serve more ethnoculturally diverse populations than ever before. The impact of global events resonates in these schools at the local community level. In this article I argue for the administrative fusion of local and global perspectives, a…

Synthesizing literature from critical pedagogy, sociocultural psychology, and cultural studies with popular cultural texts and experiences from actual classroom practice, this article conceptualizes the critical teaching of popular culture as a viable strategy to increase academic and critical literacies in urban secondary classrooms. Relying on…

Few empirical studies have been undertaken concerning successful leadership practices within challenging urban schools. Given that much of the school leadership literature relies on principals as the source of evidence for school improvement, this article explores, through multiperspective case study methodology, how one failing urban elementary…

Describes how context influenced 58 beginning school principals in urban, suburban, and rural Louisiana school districts. Results are presented as storylines that demonstrate social issues extending beyond any single district or any one context variable such as race or gender. Commonalities among the job tasks and work attitudes are discussed.…

A survey of over 30 "expert" Southwest principals revealed several characteristics of effective principals: possessing technical skills influenced by human relations and legal mandates, creating an inviting culture, building community, being ethical practitioners, and understanding relationships. Respondents also identified 28 components…

Current recommendations for achieving high-quality professional development for teachers include the creation of a professional learning community. Key to the success of this approach, however, is the role of the peer mentor or coach. This study examined the experiences and perceptions of 31 professional development coaches in order to highlight…

Examines the reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) diagnostic and placement process of special-needs students in one urban school district from the perspective of shared power. Argues that intent of reauthorized IDEA is to shift power from school administrators and staff members to the parent/guardian members of Individualized…

Develops a multifaceted definition of faculty trust at three organizational levels in a survey of urban elementary teachers. Along with willingness to risk vulnerability, five faces of trust emerged: benevolence, reliability, competence, honesty, and openness. When teachers trust their principals, they usually trust one other and their clients.…