This article describes accounts of grading reform initiatives that while well-intentioned, met with staunch opposition and eventually were abandoned. The implementation strategies employed by the leaders of these reform initiative are explored, along with reasons these strategies failed to result in meaningful and enduring change. Alternative…

Principal standards and license requirements in each of the 50 states are analyzed in this qualitative study in light of federal Race to the Top incentives for states to strengthen school leadership preparation and practice. Nineteen states have adopted the 2008 Educational Leadership Consortium Council (ELCC) standards verbatim and the remaining…

This study reports on four urban middle- and high school principals' emotionally shaped sense making of Race to the Top policies and their ability to balance the competing demands of teachers' emotional needs with the charge to implement mandated, accountability-driven, instructional, and evaluation changes in their schools. Despite the pressure…

Special education litigation remains a volatile area with significant practice implications. A review of the 2010 case law in the "Special Educator" identified discipline (manifestation determination, seclusion and restraints, harassment), evaluation/RTI, and postsecondary transition as specific areas of concern. School administrators should keep…

The ideas, suggestions, and personal beliefs presented here have been gleaned by the author over a long period of time from a wide range of experiences in the political and educational arenas. The writer wishes to make the political process more accessible to local and state principals' associations. (Editor)

This concluding article explores administrative programs submitted as exemplary approaches to effective school leadership. (Editor)

A visitor to Japanese secondary schools in the Tokyo area with a tour group sponsored by NASSP, this writer explains what he learned after observing schools and speaking with educators and officials. He found the Japanese student generally highly motivated and well-disciplined. (Editor)

External assessments for accountability may be taking precedence over other educational assessment purposes and are beginning to direct teaching and learning in schools. Four common concerns include teaching to the tests, narrowing instructional focus and allowing tests to determine curricula, deemphasizing higher order thinking skills, and…

Discusses three timely Individuals with Disability Act issues confronting school personnel: implications of complex health services related to the Supreme Court "Garret F" ruling; use of functional assessment as mandated by IDEA 1997 discipline amendments; and handling of Section 504 issues related to Asperger Syndrome. (Contains 16…