A new nationwide leadership initiative launched last week is aimed at changing the way America's principals are recruited and prepared--and how they run schools. The Alliance to Reform Education Leadership, or AREL, marks the first major effort of the nonpartisan George W. Bush Institute, located at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. It will…

Most school districts wait for leadership talent to emerge by posting job openings and then seeing who applies. Some districts and charter-management organizations are starting to take a more active role in identifying and supporting future principals earlier in their careers. This more systematic approach to leadership development, known as…

As principals come under more pressure than ever to improve underperforming schools, leadership experts say it's time for the nation to emphasize recruiting and training the next generation of school leaders. The American Association of School Administrators (AASA), the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), and the National…

Corporations have been striving to perfect the "people side" of their operations for decades. Most hunt aggressively for the right talent, train workers to produce at high levels, and reward top performers with promotions and higher pay. In public education, though, school districts have been more passive in managing this vital asset. Most rely on…

When U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan talks about using merit pay to attract the best teachers to the classroom, he probably doesn't have in mind a place like Richmond County, North Carolina. In this rural community where the unemployment rate is nearly 14 percent and there's no movie theater for miles around, school administrators say…

New Orleans is looking for a few good teachers, principals and charter school operators. As state and local officials struggle to rebuild the city devastated by Hurricane Katrina 18 months ago, they are facing a severe shortage of talent willing and able to educate the fast-growing student population. The problem is especially stark in the schools…

Nancy R. Noeske, a former Milwaukee science teacher, has done 18 superintendent searches and built a reputation as an aggressive, effective recruiter of both women and candidates of diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds. Three years ago, she struck out on her own, founding proact Search to specialize in finding big-city superintendents. In this…

Virginia state officials selected the University of Virginia to run a training program that will let an experienced school leader earn a credential as a "turnaround specialist." This strategy, borrowed from the corporate world, is meant to form an elite cadre of school leaders that are able to jump-start improvement in low-performing…

In an Internet forum run by the Libertarian National Socialist Green Party, an organization espousing neo-Nazi views, Jeff Weise made his comments about the group in the year leading up to his deadly armed assault at Red Lake High School in Minnesota. The forum lists 34 postings written by the 16-year-old Native American youth. The commentary Mr.…