Little has been written about the use of skill sheets in leadership education and this paper demonstrates how they have been implemented in one specific context. Used in a number of domains (e.g., karate, cardiopulmonary resuscitation) skill sheets are checklists or rubrics that record skill performance. The use of skill sheets in leadership…

The past 20 years have seen a shift in school leaders' work that can best be characterized by an increasing complexity in expectations and greater demands for accountabilities. Educational leadership preparation programs and professional associations responded to these shifts, in part, with the development and proliferation of standards for both…

The purpose of this study was to understand how university-based mentoring facilitates the acquisition of leadership skills in aspiring principals and if aspiring principals are able to make direct connections between authentic leadership responsibilities and what they experienced during their fieldwork. University-based leadership preparation…

California has a notable history of investing in educational leaders' professional learning. In 1983, the state launched the California School Leadership Academy (CSLA), which it funded until the academy was discontinued due to statewide budget cuts in 2003. Research showed that CSLA was a source of high-quality professional development. In 2019,…

Preparing teachers and leaders to become culturally competent has become a global concern and a priority. To date, there has been little research conducted among school leaders regarding how new diversity knowledge is transferred to schools. Therefore, the purpose of the present qualitative study is to explore the extent to which future…

The intent of this essay is to provoke thought on how to increase the impact of course readings on individual and group learning. A set of strategies for tapping the generative potential of texts that build on the interpretive insights of Gadamer and Ricoeur is provided. "Generative potential" refers to the ability of a text to generate…

Blending principal education programmes and leadership practice has become a common feature in the education of school principals. However, the need for further research in how programme participants experience learning within an overall structure of a programme has been highlighted since the same programmes are experienced differently. This…

Critical reflection and self-awareness are two of the most crucial components in developing equity-centered leaders (Dugan and Humbles, 2018; Madsen, 2020; Patti, Madrazo, Senge, and Stern, 2015). Leading for equity requires the leader to face both personal bias and professional challenges (Boske, 2014). Many leaders are willing to engage in the…

Background: This study considers the use of animal-assisted interventions (AAIs), specifically horses, in an educational setting, which has received minimal attention in the human-animal interaction research. Purpose: The study sought to understand perceptions of students in an educational leadership preparation program as they participated in…

Principals are critical to the effectiveness of schools, especially those serving children with the fewest advantages in life. So how can it be ensured that principals have the skills to carry out this challenging and evolving job? Enter the powerful combination of university principal preparation programs and the school districts their graduates…

Over the past five years, Albany State University (ASU) has reconstituted its Education Specialist Leadership Tier II Program to prepare school principals to work in some of the least served schools in southwest Georgia (and, as described below, outside of Georgia as well). Prior to the redesign of the program, ASU was struggling with a limited…

The purpose of this qualitative research was to identify the preparation needs of principals through the lens of school superintendents in the southeastern United States. This research was based on a collaborative university, multi-school district partnership. Superintendents were interviewed to determine their perceptions regarding the…

Purpose: This study examines school climate and student achievement trends under an ambitious school leadership residency program in an urban school district. The 2-year leadership residencies were intensive, combining at least 370 hours of professional development with on-the-job training, in which aspiring school principals held either…

This article shares our experience using a job-embedded active learning approach to support candidates' growth as systems-focused equity leaders in the University of Washington's Leadership for Learning program. We describe how socio-cultural learning theory helped us shift from field-based application projects to job-embedded learning. Our…

Research demonstrates that strong leadership has a positive impact on school quality. School and district leadership is second to classroom instruction, in terms of its influence on student learning. In addition, effective leaders are an important factor in the recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers. Because of this, states are…