Although educators have succeeded in informing the public about the transformative power of electronic and telecommunications tools, they have frequently overlooked physical features of spaces needed to house them. This article discusses workspace, arrangements, flooring, environment, electrical wiring, lighting, acoustics, and security features…

Educators need to be as assertive as their banker, lawyer, doctor, and business counterparts at informing Congressional members of urgent needs and future plans. Contact does sway votes. Lawmakers need to see concrete education successes achieved through federal efforts, along with dropout figures and leaky roofs. (MLH)

The role that a school administrator plays in strategic planning will vary, depending on leadership style, district size, central office structure, and available financial resources. The administrator brave enough to facilitate the planning group must beware of certain pitfalls, including risking plan credibility, backing a conservative stance,…

Explains that superintendents need to create a vision and convert it into an action plan. To achieve this end, the visionary leader must communicate the idea and build support. Commitment cannot be rallied without a leader who inspires subordinates' trust. (MLH)

The superintendent search consultant is employed by the board of education and must always act in the board's best interest. Boards want consultants to be friendly and courteous, provide information, and foster an aura of good feeling with candidates and the board. Candidates should receive accurate information, selection criteria briefings,…

Philadelphia's new superintendent will lose $8,000 a year if student achievement does not improve. An Ohio superintendent has promised to resign if student proficiency does not climb by 10% (see Roger Barnes' sidebar). Contract specialists predict that administrators will see increasing efforts to tie salaries to results as budgets tighten,…

Aided by sympathetic legislators, school boards, and local judges, some school leaders are trying to penalize the parents of chronically disruptive and truant students. In some states, parents are fined or sentenced to jail for their children's poor attendance. Some districts force parents to attend school with their errant youngsters. Joyce…

America still refuses to deal with racism's effects on a child's character development. The "Focus on the Family" agenda must become part of the school's agenda, but it cannot be based on one religion's teachings, as Linda Page suggests ("A Conservative Christian View on Values," this issue). Public schools must teach the facts…

Phyllis Schlafly's and Beverly LaHaye's essays on outcome-based education contain numerous inaccurate points, assertions, conclusions, and allegations that have appeared in various conservative newsletters. OBE is a time-honored, highly effective, common-sense way of designing curriculum, delivering instruction, and documenting student learning…

A carefully developed employment contract between superintendent and board is essential. This article emphasizes the necessity for holding genuine contract negotiations, defining board roles, establishing deadlines, and retaining counsel for both parties. The contract should provide for evaluating the superintendent, resolving conflicts, and…

To ensure they are evaluated fairly and competently, superintendents must help their school boards plan and implement sound systems of superintendent performance assessment and accountability. The Center for Research on Educational Accountability and Teacher Evaluation (CREATE) applied 21 personnel evaluation standards to existing evaluation…

Because of longer life expectancies and individually managed supplements to monthly pension checks, planning at retirement is becoming as important as planning for retirement. This article provides advice for retiring administrators concerning personal budgeting, setting goals, estate and tax planning, choosing medical coverage, converting assets,…

For both schools and hospitals, measure of quality is in tailoring service delivery (or responding) to individual need. To succeed, work process must be designed and managed for responding. Hospitals may appear to operate more systemically than schools because an invisible standard underlies all medical treatments. Perhaps a single framework or…

According to Pat Choate, Japan's government and corporations are influencing what American youngsters learn in school about Japanese culture and history by showering K-12 educators with expense-paid trips and ready-made, propagandistic lesson plans. Despite Japan Foundation claims to the contrary, several educators returning from two-week trips…

After spending 9 years as assistant superintendent of a 3,600-student district, the new superintendent of a suburban Chicago district offers some perspectives concerning his first year on the job. Whether lobbying for sufficient funding, making staff cutbacks, or dealing with problem students, the new superintendent remains optimistic and…