As schools and school districts find their funds being cut or eliminated, they are turning to various organizations for assistance to help in the teaching/learning process. One such organization is the university. Quite often these schools or districts not only lack the funds, but also lack the technical and resource capacities to implement the…

This report summarizes findings from one component of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education's (CPRE) evaluation of the General Electric Foundation's (GEF) "Developing Futures"™ in Education program in Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS). As described in the CPRE proposal and research design, the purpose was to closely…

The school principal's role is demanding. Responsible for complex systems impacting student learning, the principal must possess knowledge in varied areas of the educational system. Rising from the roots of the teaching principal, the leadership paradigm of modern school principals has evolved over time. With the integration of digital…

Two university professors share how their involvement in leadership coaching has influenced their teaching practices. They stated that as university students, they learned about leading, but were not taught how to lead. As new professors, they realized that they were utilizing similar teaching strategies as their own teachers, with a minimum of…

There is great interest in educational leadership in the early part of the twenty-first century. This is because of the widespread belief that the quality of leadership makes a significant difference to school and student outcomes. In many parts of the world, including both developed and developing countries, there is increasing recognition that…

The Obama administration has grand hopes for turning around the nation's lowest-performing schools, in part by allocating $3.5 billion for School Improvement Grants. Unfortunately, there simply aren't enough qualified principals to replace those mandated to be fired under two of the four school improvement models that the federal government says…

This paper argues that it is timely for educational researchers in Asia, and Singapore in particular, to generate cultural- and empirical-knowledge bases in school leadership that will speak to the specific interests of Asian students, educators and practitioners. As economic and social development across Asia gathers momentum, the more advanced…

Not surprisingly, the members of the Ad Hoc Committee on School Administration--a committee established by the North Carolina State Board of Education for the purpose of revising standards for principals in North Carolina--perceived that the 2006 North Carolina Standards for School Executives would have an impact on both university preparation…

What distinguishes successful schools from unsuccessful schools? This question has relevance for the practice of educational leadership as well as the preparation of leaders. Successful schools are led by principals who set the direction and influence student learning, and who change the instructional process by focusing deliberately on teaching…

For the past 3 years, the educational leadership faculty at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) has been engaged in program reform and curricular innovation. The reform process was initiated by centralized external authorities--a combination of international rankings, national accreditation bodies, national leadership standards, and state standards,…

Many school leaders seek new strategies from their colleagues and education literature on how to develop and sustain a positive school culture where students feel safe and are able to reach their greatest potential in academic achievement. Leadership books focus on strategies of building professional learning communities and developing capacity…

Great leaders make great schools. The most successful school leaders create a school climate of high achievement and continuous improvement, give teachers a voice in decision-making, use data to drive curriculum and instruction, and assure students and parents that everyone at the school is focusing on student success. They know what is going on…

In Cyprus, the introduction of management and leadership training programmes in education is still at an embryonic stage and is far from addressing the actual needs of Cypriot head teachers. Those responsible for organising inservice training programmes at the Pedagogical Institute conceded that the Cyprus educational system (CES) had failed due…

Despite the key role that principals play in leading schoolwide change, districts' efforts to support principals are often limited, particularly in rural settings. In this article, we report the preliminary findings of a cross-district mentoring program for nine midcareer rural school principals. The collaboratively developed human resource…

Locally controlled public schools are one of the cornerstones of our nation's democracy, yet many schools are not preparing students for success. Far too many students are not graduating, and many of those who do graduate are woefully unprepared for college or a meaningful career. Successfully initiating and sustaining meaningful improvements in…