Considering the role of higher education in preparing the next generation of leaders for social change, leadership education is challenged to consider how best to prepare young adults for socially responsible leadership. Service-learning and professional internships, separately, have been identified as vehicles for preparing young adults for…

This qualitative case study explores the impact of job-embedded principal preparation residency programs through the lens of a school district's administrator. The school-university partnership provided an innovative way to prepare aspiring school leaders. The job-embedded structure provided an authentic, contextual base experience where aspiring…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reconceptualize the theory-practice gap in educational leadership, not as a deficit, but as a necessity for legitimacy within institutional contexts. Design/methodology/approach: This paper draws on institutional theory to reframe the theory-practice gap, which is often seen as a deficit of leaders or…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the challenges professors of educational leadership encounter as they prepare aspiring principals to be instructional leaders. Drawing upon an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews of professors from across the U.S.A., we analyzed significant statements and created themes that…

Principals play a vital role in setting the direction for successful schools. With the emphasis on preparing highly qualified school leaders for the 21st century, this article investigated aspiring school leaders' and their perception of preparedness to serve as instructional leaders, talent and organizational system managers. Particularly, the…

This exploratory study seeks to obtain the views of strategic decision-makers surrounding the implementation of Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) Accountancy programs in Australian universities. Using an online questionnaire with mainly open-ended questions, the results showed most respondents perceived WIL programs as important and should be offered…

This article presents three types of (inter)active learning pedagogical tools to better prepare future administrators for complex, real-world tasks. We propose a framework of narrative linearity and responsiveness to examine digital cases, digital simulations, and clinical simulations as bridging pedagogies from abstract class-based methods to…

The purpose of this collaborative action research study was to determine whether practicing instructional coaching with teacher candidates (TCs) improved coaching skills of principal candidates (PCs). Findings indicated that PCs improved their coaching skills. Findings illustrated ways to improve principal preparation in an instructional…

This study is an examination of a partnership between a Texas public school district and a higher education institute on a 15-month embedded principal internship. Within this district, 6 principal fellows from 5 different campuses participated in the internship program. The focus was to prepare aspiring principals with the knowledge and skills of…

Principal preparation programs understand the need for relevant internship activities that bridge the gap between theory and practice (Anast-May, Buckner, & Geer, 2011; Darling-Hammond, LaPointe, Meyerson, Orr, & Cohen (2007). Principal preparation programs utilizing distance technology are also charged with meeting this expectation and…

Saudi educators are increasingly concerned over whether principal preparation programs in Saudi Arabia are accomplishing their goal of developing qualified leaders who are prepared to take on the tasks of school principals. Thus, Saudi researchers recommend that the school principal preparation programs undergo evaluation. This study examines…

This study sought to understand how aspiring administrators and supervising mentors contribute to the intern's opportunity to lead authentic administrative tasks during the administrative internship. Using case study methodology, we gathered data from six intern/mentor pairs through in-depth interviews, observations, journals, and logs. Several…

As the role of the principal changes, so too must principal preparation programs and the policies that guide them. In order to ensure that our schools have a strong supply of dynamic leaders who are adequately prepared for the demands of 21st century schools, there is a growing need for innovation and improvement in principal recruitment,…

In this study, we sought to understand the development of mentoring relationships during the administrative internship through the lens of the Educational Leadership Mentoring Framework (ELMF). Two cases of mentor/intern pairs were used to explore how each experienced the phases of the ELMF. Data collection methods included two mentor and intern…

In light of the changing landscape of state-funded public education and changing expectations for principals in elementary schools, researchers examined the status of New Jersey principal certification programs in order to allow policymakers, institutions of higher education, and other stakeholders to assess the capacity of the state's higher…