I contend that South African school leaders perform their functions within a managerialistic school system that focuses strongly on prescribed standards, quality, and outcomes. The aim is to draw attention to the conceptual contradiction inherent in the labelling of the school principal as a leader rather than as a manager. In practice, school…

The National Institute of School Leadership's (NISL's) Executive Development Program (EDP) was established to provide professional development to school leaders to drive their schools to high performance. The program emphasizes the role of principals as strategic thinkers, instructional leaders, and creators of a just, fair, and caring culture in…

The role of school administrators has become increasingly complex. State mandated testing has brought on a plethora of responsibilities. Pupils are tested in grades three through eight in reading and mathematics. If pupils fail to pass a test, they may be held back to repeat that grade level. An exit test is given in high school which needs to be…

This report is about a study of high leadership capacity schools and those in the process of becoming such a school. Schools were selected for participation in the study based on the leadership capacity characteristics they possessed and evidence of improved and sustained student performance, professional cultures, and shared leadership dynamics.…

Although school administrators are not usually thought of as revolutionaries, they are in fact deeply and constructively engaged with concerns that must be called revolutionary. The American school system has grown amazingly since 1920, when only 20 percent of 17 -year-olds attended public schools, compared with nearly 80 percent today. Nearly one…

The author, a principal at the Garden Grove High School in California, shares some personal concepts on what it takes to become a school administrator and what a school administrator's role should be. (Author/RK)

Existentialism emphasizes not only man's responsibility for fashioning his own nature but also the importance of personal freedom, personal decision, and personal commitment. The author explores the concept of an existential school administrator and how he can be "someone for himself". (Editor)

Condensed from "The School Administrator , (Summer 1969), 11-12.

Have you developed your performance as a school administrator to the fullest? Do you perform at your peak consistently? This article will tell you whether you have reached the ranks of the professional player. (Editor/RK)

A superintendent's credibility depends greatly on visibility with staff and community members. Teaching a class is one way to thwart the office-bound bureaucrat image, according to a New Jersey superintendent who teaches an early morning high school English class each semester. No one accuses him of being out of touch with classroom realities!…

Parent involvement has increasingly been mandated as a key component of school reform, and school-community relations courses (as well as standards for administrators) call for collaborating with diverse families and communities. Yet the role of school leaders in engaging parents is underdeveloped in the literature and in preparation programs. How…

Schools must have the capacity to change. School administrators must be able to find a balance in distributing administrative authority in schools. In an effort to evoke meaningful change within the organization of secondary school structures, administrators must be advocates of change and support their staff members by decentralizing key roles by…

It is not easy being a principal. The principal's job is not just set the vision for a school, but also to make sure that everyone embraces that vision and works to make it a reality. In the process, principals will be occasionally be seen as "enforcers." Principals must make hard decisions, and virtually no decision is appreciated by everyone.…

To be successful in guiding staff, school administrators should be knowledgable about the study and practice of androgagy - the ways in which adults learn. (Editor)

The school principalship has undergone change in the past decade. Principals are expected to make daily decisions in the best interests of students within their school systems. Secondary school principals are socialized to choose between idealized (or desired) tasks and conventional (or actual) tasks associated with their job. A literature review…