Effective school leaders focus on identifying the changes needed to improve student learning. However, school improvement is often reduced to a checklist of compliance activities, and, consequently, achievement gaps continue to stay the status quo, or even widen. This paper reports on a qualitative case study analyzing how professional learning…

The incorporation of professional development (PD) activities for PK-12 teachers has long served to advance competency in the profession. With changes in requirements for continued teacher certification, student performance, and state-level testing, superintendents are faced with maximizing PD opportunities of their faculty. This primary…

The State of Michigan, as of 2012-2013, requires school districts to enroll students in full day kindergarten to receive full funding. This study investigated the decision-making process that was used by public school districts to determine kindergarten programs in their district. Specifically, how did administrators and staff members use the…

This paper documents a study of the role of superintendents in fostering and enabling the growth of teacher leadership. It is presented in two parts. The First part was designed to study teacher leadership programs in select universities in Michigan in which professors of educational administration described the extent to which the concept of…

The position of public school superintendency in the U.S. is the most powerful position in schools. Yet research has shown that women who hold the position have difficulty talking about power (Brunner, 2000). A survey designed to measure perceptions of power was sent to 210 women school superintendents in four Midwestern states during the…

To test R. E. Callahan's (1962) theory about superintendents' vulnerability to interest groups, the career of E. C. Hartwell is examined. Hartwell's career in three cities (1914-22) demonstrates the power that a superintendent could acquire and wield. (SLD)

A STUDY OF 10 SCHOOL DISTRICTS TESTED THE HYPOTHESIS THAT CLASHES BETWEEN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS AND TEACHERS' UNIONS ARE DUE LARGELY TO THE CONFLICTING PERCEPTIONS OF THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR'S LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOR AS DESCRIBED BY THE ADMINISTRATOR HIMSELF, BY THE SCHOOL BOARD, AND BY MEMBERS OF THE TEACHERS' UNION. ACCORDING TO THE LEADER BEHAVIOR…