The role of the principal as leader has been a subject of considerable debate and research in education. This study examines the extent of variation in leadership behavior and activities among urban high school principals. Data were collected through interviews with principals and teachers in national samples of urban comprehensive high schools…

Using nationally representative data generated by the normal, day-to-day operation of schools, this research tested the major conclusions drawn from case studies focusing on principal effectiveness. On the basis of detailed information regarding individual student characteristics and achievements, detailed characteristics of teachers and their…

Paraprofessional workers (teachers' aides) can help special needs students in vocational education classes. In order for them to function properly, they need supervision, which may vary among institutions, but should include some inservice orientation and training. Some of the topics that should be covered in the training of paraprofessionals…

This paper describes three paradigmatic "change facilitator styles": initiator, manager, and responder. These styles were identified through observations of principals' school improvement practices and the effects that those practices had on implementation at the classroom level. Initiators have clear, decisive long-range policies and…

The project discussed here was an outgrowth of a Title I, Elementary Seconoary Education Act cooperative project involving nine Arkansas school districts. Initiated during 1971-72 school year, the cooperative's first two years focused on developing and field testing procedures for conducting district wide assessment of needs, program planning, and…

This first National Indian Workshop on School Affairs provided 5 days of training and orientation for 165 Indian participants from 46 tribal groups. The areas of instruction were 1) parental involvement, including PTA, attendance at school functions, awareness of what is going on in the school, encouragement of the parents' interest and concern in…

This chapter is designed to aid in the understanding of trends toward developing more effective programs of selecting and preparing educational supervisors. A survey of present policies and procedures in the selection of personnel for supervisory positions shows that the selection process could be significantly improved simply by setting up and…

This collection of 24 essays examines emerging trends in the educational, organizational, and institutional domains of schooling, and in the larger contexts that set the stage for those discussions. The volume is divided into three parts. Part 1, "The Development of Educational Administration," includes "A Brief History of…

Purpose: To fill the gap in theoretical and empirical knowledge on the patterns of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in school, the aim of this study was to explore the components of teacher OCB as well as its personal and contextual determinants. Research Design: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 50 schoolteachers, 10…

This book is designed to help policymakers, educators, and researchers develop a deeper understanding of the issues of school restructuring and to give greater conceptual clarity to the terms of the current debate. The chapters of the book contain forum papers that are organized into two main parts. Following chapter 1, "Introduction: On Changing…

Effective-schools research has determined that successful schools are invariably led by a principal who is recognized as an instructional leader. This paper synthesizes and attempts to clarify the most recent perspectives on instructional leadership. Data sources included professional educational journals, trade books on leadership, and…

Instructional leadership, the essential component of an effective school, does not require inborn talents, but skills that can be learned and applied. A systematically designed and implemented training program positively affects practicing principals regarding the use of time, personnel, and resources in the school. The model training program…

This paper reports on a research study designed, in part, to explore the expression of bureaucracy (or structural management) and culture (or symbolic management) in the work of eighteen elementary school principals in Louisiana. In addition, the study compares principals in nine of the schools categorized as "more effective" and nine…

A student's right to freedom of expression was well-protected by twenty years of legal history until the United States Supreme Court in its 1988 decision Hazelwood School District, et al. v. Kuhlmeier, et al. sharply limited this right by approving a school district's censorship of a high school newspaper. Prior to the Kuhlmeier decision courts…