Des Moines (Iowa) Public Schools is one of six urban districts participating in an effort to redesign the role of principal supervisors. The Wallace Foundation's Principal Supervisor Initiative provides four years of support for these districts to transform the role, which has traditionally focused on operations and compliance, into one that…

Much of the history and study of leadership in general has omitted "other" perspectives in the literature. The same is true in educational leadership in general, and the principalship in particular. The discourse of the history of African Americans and their struggle to achieve equity in education has been enhanced by the work of noted scholars.…

Urban districts throughout the nation are contending with declining enrollment, aging facilities in disrepair, persistently low student achievement, increased competition with charters, and severe fiscal constraints. Philadelphia is a case in point. Over the past year, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) was forced to borrow $304 million…

This article presents the author's views about the school district deconstruction in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He discusses his 30-year experience as a principal and central office administrator with the School District of Philadelphia and his involvement in the efforts to lead urban school reform in the country. He also describes the reform…

Scholars of educational change agree that leaders need to develop a vision, build capacity and ensure ownership of change by staff. We argue that understanding the actual work that leaders must do in order to convert these categories into action, requires a social practice approach. Taking the notion of sense-making as a social practice, drawn…

For millions of years, human beings evolved and then lived in small social groupings that were intergenerational, with simple divisions of labor, oriented to common tasks and values. It was a limited existence in many ways, but there was community and continuity. And now, very suddenly in evolutionary time, we have built the teeming cities and…

This paper tells the remarkable and compelling story of Leonard Covello, a ground breaking progressive educator who worked tirelessly to shape public education in New York City during the first half of the 20th century. Covello was the founding principal of Benjamin Franklin High School (BFHS) in East Harlem in the 1930s. The author invites…

Focuses on three urban secondary principals who were effective in turning schools in crisis into effective schools. Identifies the barriers the principals encountered and overcame in the process. Describes how these principals' authoritarian styles ceased to be effective when the schools were no longer in crisis. Points to a need for a new type of…

Discusses how difficult the job of urban school principal, as currently conceived and structured, has become, making the case that administrator preparation programs of improved scope, quality, and impact, together with a reconsideration of the notion of educational leadership, would have a salutary effect on the viability of the urban school…

Principals in urban high schools can play an important role in improving school effectiveness by adopting an educational philosophy that focuses on development of the students' sense of self-worth. (PGD)

Given that America is still a dangerously racist, classist, and sexist society and that students need opportunities to celebrate their diverse cultural backgrounds, the failure of the nation's schools to educate African-American students must be reexamined. Change strategies include making the curriculum more multicultural and reorienting…

A visiting Fulbright scholar/principal from Capetown, South Africa, spent a semester observing elementary, middle, and high school classes in the eastern United States. His observations about student absenteeism, school counselors, discipline, inclusive programs, transportation modes, and library facilities evoke contrasting images of daily school…

The multiplicity of ills facing the nation's public schools can depress even the most optimistic. In this article, the author presents her views about the school system and the negative effects that labor agreements have had on it. Her views on how to solve some seemingly intractable education problems have been informed by two experiences: her…

Relying on his experience as an urban principal, the author relates several vignettes to illustrate the importance of a smoothly working school team of administrators, teachers, and counselors. (Author/JM)

Principals' leadership is crucial to urban schools' attaining goals of equity and excellence. Suggests that principals commit their schools to the belief that every child can learn, communicate this vision, put it into action, and be an example and resource for staff and students. (CJS)