California has a two-tiered credential structure for education administrators. The first tier is the Preliminary Administrative Services Credential. An individual who has completed all requirements for a preliminary credential but does not have an offer of employment in an administrative position may apply for a Certificate of Eligibility, which…

The purpose of this qualitative, explanatory, single, case study was to explain how new and experienced principals in one 9-12 school district located in California perceived their transition to the principalship. Data were collected with regard to perceptions of administrator preparation and induction programs, along with their perceptions of…

Principals are instrumental to successful school improvement efforts and positive student outcomes. However, recent workforce trends, increased accountability, demands of the job, and turnover rates for school principals are worrisome. Succession planning is a systematic approach that involves all aspects of identifying and retaining leaders…

The Professional Learning Department hosts an annual week-long orientation for various staff (e.g., teacher, elementary counselors, librarians) who are new to Austin Independent School District (AISD) as part of the Teacher Induction Program (TIP). This report summarizes survey results from staff who attended the Fall 2020 TIP orientation week.

Research across the decades has confirmed that effective school leadership is associated with better outcomes for students and schools. A high-quality school leader affects dozens of teachers and hundreds or thousands of students. It is a pivotal role. From 2011 to 2016, The Wallace Foundation, through its Principal Pipeline Initiative (PPI),…

Superintendency is regarded as one of the most visible and powerful leadership roles in the world of education today (Sovine, 2000). This research was conducted to identify the challenges faced by assistant superintendents and their perspectives in terms of preparation and support. The study made use of the qualitative research design and was…

This study examined a recently established induction program for new superintendents in the Canadian province of Alberta over a three-year period. In keeping with principles of design-based research data were collected from a variety of sources from the 26 new superintendents and their 25 mentors to assess and adjust programming through three…

In this autoethnography, I examine the challenges I faced as a private-to-public-sector novice CFO entering a resource-constrained 41-thousand-student K-12 urban school district in Colorado. This study chronicles how I deliberately slowed down my interactions within a complex adaptive system (CAS) through ethnographic interviewing to identify the…

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of public school superintendents and school board presidents in the United States relative to the orientation and ongoing training that is believed to be necessary for newly elected or selected and experienced board members. At the national, state, and local levels, public education is…

The potential use of computer-based assessments has raised concerns from educators, policymakers, and parents about information technology infrastructure in school districts and the preparation of staff and students to use new technologies for assessment purposes, and the potential impact of testing activities on core school functions,…

The purpose of the study was to identify superintendent practices and protocols that contribute to the ability of the urban superintendent to establish and sustain a school board focus on student achievement as the highest organizational priority of a school district. The study was conducted utilizing mixed qualitative and quantitative methods. A…

A key component of comprehensive school and school district emergency management plans is an exercise program that includes the five types of exercises: (1) orientation seminars; (2) drills; (3) tabletop exercises; and (4) functional exercises. Functional exercises are excellent tools for testing the extent to which an existing emergency…

The relationships between teachers' perceptions of the structural characteristics of their schools, the leadership quality of their principals, and the extent of the satisfaction they express with their work and their colleagues are examined. The results, as displayed by two groups of teachers, (one of which attaches a high, and the other a low,…

Models presented by four Florida school systems that have attempted to link teacher evaluation, teachers' professional development, school improvement offer intriguing possibilities for educational change. Their conversation has raised number of questions about what should be evaluated and in what ways. Need for teachers to be able to take risks…

The major factors affecting successful recruitment and utilization of school volunteers are reviewed in this booklet. The possibilities opened by such programs and the control that can be exercised over them are stressed in the opening pages of the document to encourage program implementation and assuage unnecessary fears. A 17-step process for…