Discusses the development, content, and implementation of a training program for administrative personnel who work in urban settings in the Cleveland City School District. Presents a model, The Leadership Academy, which provides assistance, upgrading, renewal, or retraining to all the district's administrators. (JS)

Combining methodology from quantitative and qualitative paradigms can provide a rich database for understanding the leadership practice of the elementary school administrator. This combination of strategies allows for a more complete understanding of what influences educational input, process, and output. (16 references) (SI)

Discusses the role that Montessori school administrators can play in shaping the admissions process to create a powerful link between parents and the school. Reviews how school open houses, application procedures, and interviews influence parental attitudes, as well as the role that parental choice plays in the parent-school partnership. (MDM)

Examines data (interviews with two principals) from a study of teacher response to curriculum innovation to illustrate differences between the bureaucrat/administrator and ethno-humanist roles of African-American principals. Overlap of these roles and tensions between them are reflected as principals move back and forth between the roles. (SLD)

Reviews selected literature on administrative evaluation and focuses on four topics: (1) linking principals to school effectiveness as an outcome; (2) increasing awareness of school contextual indicators affecting leadership and effectiveness; (3) the effects of structural reform on the principal's role; and (4) assessing principal's performance…

A nationwide survey of teachers and administrators showed how central administration can facilitate school-based improvement. Results revealed eight practices that respondents believed helped facilitate the implementation of school-based improvement. Practices related to goals and planning, policy and procedures, staff development, recognition and…

Grounds prognostications for the principalship on significant schooling trends. The future of schools depends on changing "outside" economic, societal, and political forces. Like most businesses and organizations, the education industry is becoming more communication- and service-oriented. Principals will need to act as social and organizational…

A survey of K-8 school districts in northwest Nebraska examined whether part-time principals mandated by Nebraska legislation were improving the school's instructional setting, as perceived by the school board president. The 41 responses of school board presidents rated importance and existence of 9 factors of the principal's role. Includes…

In this article, the author explains her decision to return to the classroom as a teacher after serving 15 years in public school administration. As an administrator, she found her greatest joys in transforming faculty meetings into learning situations, talking with teenagers about their success; facilitating the processes of learning; and sharing…

This issue of "Lessons Learned" addresses "Dealing with Weapons on Campus." Each year, school administrators, faculty and staff must deal with the possibility of students planning and carrying out pranks such as toilet-papering trees, egging automobiles or spray painting school property. These high jinks often occur at the end of the school year,…

This paper presents findings of a 1994 followup study of New York state school superintendents. The first survey was conducted in 1992. Questionnaires sent by the New York State Council of School Superintendents (NYSCOSS) to over 700 superintendents elicited 516 responses, a 68 percent response rate. The questionnaire gathered data on…

The most critical variable for school success is the leadership behavior of the school principal. However, the principal's role is becoming increasingly complex. This book offers suggestions for the beginning principal. Each chapter is geared to help new principals develop personal plans for professional development and improvement. Following the…

Superintendents who aspire to lead rarely find clear explanations of what to expect from their constituents or about what they should do. This book presents findings of a study that explored superintendents' approaches to leadership, constituents' responses to their superintendents' initiatives, and the resulting changes in practice. The book is…

During the mid- to late-1990s, economic downturns, outmigration of residents, and school closures in Nova Scotia contributed to a lack of movement among school administrators and thus a bottleneck of candidates seeking promotion to the principalship. This paper presents findings of a study that identified the professional-development needs of…