Describes school-district efforts to improve their reading programs through commitment to staff development, ranging from keeping their basic approach to reading but investing in additional training to starting from scratch with new training session and new approaches to reading. Describes federal government interest in research-based reading…

In this article, the author asserts that now that states and school districts are enacting ever more rigorous standards, instructional materials and assessments, school board members are asking more questions, as they should. Superintendents would be wise to have strategies ready to help them learn more about the new standards-based environment.…

A central office administrator describes her emerging role as coordinator and facilitator of professional development programs at Rochester (New York) City Schools. In a newly decentralized setting, she acknowledges and accepts responsibility for all district staff, responds to all staff members' identified and stated needs, and remains well…

Describes one Florida principal's pursuit of school-based management and shared decision making for the wrong reason--to escape from central office domination. Although chosen as the lesser of two evils, the new committee structure has worked well for Myrtle Grove School. Since giving up veto power to gain staff trust and commitment, teacher…

Two school leaders reflect on their personal involvement in parent relations. Although a Missouri principal notes positive results from her school's Parents as Instructional Partners program, she deplores some parents' indifferent attitudes toward education. A Wisconsin superintendent stresses honest communication and taking parents' complaints…

Weary of adversarial contract negotiations, management and staff at Glenview (Illinois) Public Schools worked with union leaders to design a collaborative or strategic bargaining system. Superintendent played a significant role by obtaining board and union confidence, educating others about newly restructured roles, and moving from directing to…

In a school-based decision-making environment, a primary role of central office leadership is preparing school councils to carry out their responsibilities effectively. Challenges include reluctant participants, time constraints, the tendency to administer, and legal complexities. A Kentucky school district has developed a forum where…

To buffer education's instructional core, superintendents increasingly have been diverted from teaching and learning and pressured to become operations managers and political beings fostering confidence in schools and communities. Today's superintendents should become responsible for helping their communities develop a common language about…

Realizing how difficult it is to pass tax issues today, many school boards with all good intentions place them on the ballot before the money is really needed. They do this so if the tax issues are not approved, they have another chance to get them passed before serious educational cuts have to be made. In states where school districts must rely…

While many aspects of school design have changed over the years, unfortunately the process to find the best architect is the same in many ways today as it was 20 years ago. Design teams announce how many schools they have designed, show lots of pretty photographs and list what each team member will do on the project. Education is a business and…

Defining moments generally do not come at a time of a leader's choosing but in the course of leading. In this article, the author explains when she suddenly understood how to best explain and frame her professional mission regarding urban public education. Sections include: (1) Existential Moments; (2) A New Vision; (3) Lifesaving Measures; and…

Many middle school and high school youth recognize the value of participating in organized activities outside school, yet too often they limit their involvement because of busy schedules and family lives, disinterest in existing activity choices, lack of motivation to attend organized activities or the lure of freedom or relaxation over structured…

Consolidations come in all shapes and sizes, including mergers, annexations and dissolutions. They do not all take place under state mandate, however. A handful of districts consolidate every year in some states like Illinois that have large numbers of small districts, many of them dual districts that serve K-8 or 9-12 in the same geographic area.…

In this article, the authors present Edwin Diaz, superintendent of California's Gilroy Unified School District and discuss the common challenges and strategies among those education leaders who take on--and succeed at--the role of change agent and reformer. When Edwin Diaz became superintendent of California's Gilroy Unified School District in…

Stressing that in order for quality circles to work, members must believe that their participation makes a difference, the author outlines procedures for setting up quality circles within schools and school districts and describes their successful operation. (MJL)