The continuous poor performance of South Africa's learners is detrimental to its developing economy. The need for education change prompted two universities to initiate a system-wide change strategy in a poorly performing school district. The leverage for change was leadership development, involving school principals and district officials. The…

The current policy gaze on teacher quality is resulting in significant shifts in how teacher education is conceptualized, designed and delivered. Traditional approaches to teacher preparation and continuing professional development (CPD) are being challenged, and often displaced, by new models that expedite the process and experience of becoming a…

This article tries to "put a face" on the complex and abstract process of program change in relation to key principles from the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED). We examine the principles of the "scholarship of practice," "laboratory of practice," and "signature pedagogy" within a…

The initial support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the group that became Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) was one of a cluster of grants the foundation made in the late 1980s to lay the groundwork for reforming the nation's undergraduate science and mathematics sector. What inspired the NSF to initiate and support these groups was a…

Principals are positioned at the center of school improvement. In the United States, current turnaround reforms target the principalship as a key lever for change. This article uses institutional theory to explore the logics of turnaround leadership that steer principals and their work. Specifically, we draw on qualitative interview data from a…

Leadership preparation programs are in transition as scholars seek to determine more sophisticated approaches in developing leaders for the increasing demands of accountability policy. This critical conceptual analysis focuses on leadership preparation for the socialization of school leaders. It is intended to reframe current perspectives about…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to unpack the foundations for the national standards for school leaders in the USA. The author examines some of the background of the Standards from 1996 to 2015. The author explores the two foundations on which the ISLLC Standards rest, academic press and supportive community. Design/methodology/approach:…

Followership has been recognized as an essential component of leadership studies as evidenced by growth of research within this area. To keep pace with the growth of this research, it is time to bring followership into the leadership classroom. This paper proposes a case-based exercise with two main learning objectives: (1) to help students…

This study examined the overview of how individuals in their respective teams operated and contributed to their organization. This study also identified the salient characteristics of how the respondents made progress as leaders in their respective faculties or departments towards identifying directions for innovative future practice through…

The purpose of this article is to describe two unique approaches to implementing specific components of a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP) in local K-12 schools. The information is presented from the lens of two physical education teacher education (PETE) faculty members who were not the individuals implementing the CSPAP,…

This article describes and assesses the design and effects of one of the first academic development programmes on Leadership for Educational Change. The participants are senior academics, involved in leadership of teaching and learning. We report on an evaluation using a mixed-method approach employing a self-report questionnaire administered to…

In June 2010, the Illinois General Assembly passed Public Act 96-0903, a sweeping restructuring of the preparation of school principals and assistant principals that represented 10 years of effort from a broad coalition of stakeholders. The restructuring in Illinois was part of a movement nationwide to provide stronger training for principals in…

U.S. social programs, set up to address important problems, often fall short by funding specific models/strategies ("interventions") that are not effective. When evaluated in scientifically-rigorous studies, social interventions in K-12 education, job training, crime prevention, and other areas are frequently found ineffective or…

This case study report will identify modifications made to a traditional leadership program's structures and the effects of the work on faculty perceptions of non-traditional doctoral programs. Union Free School District is the only school district to ever be taken over by the state. A nearby university's research-based educational leadership…

Vocational education and its leadership is an important sphere of economic activity worldwide and is being impacted by several trends including: the increasing significance and centrality of skills development in today's economies; economic trends associated with globalisation (internationalisation of education and emergence of global labour…