Beyond learning how to manage children in a classroom, new teachers also must learn how to manage relationships with the adults in their school. Every new employee must be socialized into membership of their new work organization. In the case of teachers, that's the school and the district. In a study of beginning teachers in Flanders, the…

Purpose: This study aims to gain better understanding of the perceptions comprehensive school principals and chief education officers have about the implementation of school reform and the means they use to facilitate the development of such. Design/methodology/approach: This research project was carried out using a systemic design research…

In April 2009, a high school principal in a large Arizona school district met individually with 18 of his most senior teachers to inform them that they would not have a job the following year. Why didn't tenure protect them from wholesale dismissal? The answer is they all had one thing in common: they were retirees who had been leased or hired…

This case, which was inspired by actual events, describes the efforts of a district to create a culture of accountability for professional employee practice and behavior. In the midst of new district leaders and a shift in district priorities, numerous situations test the fortitude, organizational knowledge, ethical commitments, and political…

This is a research-based book to help school administrators understand and more effectively deal with the ethical compromises that arise as a result of the complex organizational and interpersonal demands of their leadership roles. The author combines personal knowledge, candid revelations, and interview data from five dedicated school…

Parents need to understand the responsibilities of people at all levels of school governance. This paper discusses the role of the state government (usually state boards of education), the local school board, the superintendent, and the principal. A sidebar presents information on teamwork involving PTAs, principals, superintendents, and school…

This case study examines the development and implementation of secondary education policy in Ontario as defined in "Ontario Schools: Intermediate and Senior Divisions (OSIS)--1984." Data were gathered for the period from 1980 when the Secondary Education Review Project (SERP) was initiated, to 1984 when the policy outlined in OSIS was to…

Elementary school principals who received a Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) award in January or August 2002 (n = 21) were invited to be interviewed in the late spring and summer of 2003. A total of 19 principals consented to audiotaped interviews. The interviews focused on several CSR dimensions, including principals' beliefs about the extent to…

Advocates the use of scripted plays (called dramatic scenarios) to teach administrators and school-board members about the politics of educational decision-making. Includes a dramatic scenario involving the deliberations of a seven-person principal-selection committee. Summarizes administrator impressions of the scenario. (Contains 28 references.)…

How does one become an effective superintendent of schools? There is no simple formula as the turnover rate reflects difficulty of the position. Some maintain that the job cannot be done well due to politics, financial constraints, and time demands. As a former superintendent, the author rejects this negative view. In this highly readable,…

The Sunnyside Independent School District Board of Education selected Dr. Juan Martinez (pseudonym) as its new superintendent of schools by an unusually cohesive 7-0 vote in 2002. In describing the superintendent search, the local paper characterized the board as highly politicized and often divisive. So the board's unanimity in appointing Juan to…

In December 1982, James Keegstra was dismissed from his position as high school social studies teacher in a small Canadian town. Two and one-half years later Keegstra was convicted on the rarely heard criminal charge of willful promotion of hatred towards an identifiable group (Jews) through his classroom teaching. Courtroom testimony made it…

Drawing on survey data from 83 New York school districts and case studies of 6 districts, the project reported here explores several aspects of schools and districts as organizations. The conceptual framework guiding the study emphasizes that educational organizations are not governed either by their structure or by the reactions of individuals,…