This study evaluated the effects of brief training in how to lead organizational meetings. The training was based on an attendee-needs-based model of running meetings. Twelve mid-level managers completed the training. The study showed a significant pre to post increase in the number of needs-based behaviors displayed by meeting leaders and in…

Engaging educators in learning communities to apply a cycle of continuous improvement is not easy. Schedules, levels of expertise, and district initiatives can easily derail a campus professional learning plan, but Alyssa Toomes was concerned that professional learning experiences would become just another chore to check off teachers' to-do lists.…

As the percentage of university-level courses delivered online continues to increase, instructors who rely on storytelling approaches to convey key concepts in lecture-based coursework will likely face the need to translate their oral storytelling modules into one or more formats that are suitable for use in an online learning environment. While…

This study uses a randomized design to assess the impact of the Balanced Leadership program on principal leadership, instructional climate, principal efficacy, staff turnover, and student achievement in a sample of rural northern Michigan schools. Participating principals report feeling more efficacious, using more effective leadership practices,…

In recent years engineering educators have been encouraged to blend technical and professional learning in their curricular and co-curricular programming (Engineers Canada, 2009; National Academy of Engineering [NAE], 2004). Our paper describes a multifaceted leadership learning program developed to achieve this goal by infusing reflective,…

In January 2012, a group of four school library professors attending the ALA Midwinter Meeting were having lunch and discussing various issues related to the school library field. These school library professors agreed that one challenge facing the profession is preparing future leaders. As current school library leaders retire, it is difficult to…

As the 70th California Council on Teacher Education (CCTE) anniversary approaches it is hard for the author to believe that he has been involved with this organization since 1993, twenty-one years. As he reflected on how he was introduced and what kept him involved in the organization in many capacities, the author realized he knows of no other…

The flat structure of American schools is ill-suited to meet today's increasing demands for educational improvement. Even with unprecedented pressure to raise performance, America's schools are still largely organized the way they were a century ago--with a single principal presiding over a largely egg-crated faculty. Is such a thin veneer of…

This article reports on an analysis of the effects of a quasinatural experiment in which 16 rural communities participated in public discussion, leadership training, and community visioning as part of an Extension program at Montana State University. Difference-in-differences methods reveal that key U.S. Census socioeconomic indicators either…

To determine how academic library leaders make decisions about their organization's future and how they effect changes, the author interviewed 44 university librarians and deans from institutions belonging to the Association of American Universities (AAU). The author analyzed the interviews using content analysis to identify the most frequent…

Background: Around the globe, education policy borrowing remains pervasive and prevalent. The strategies, interventions and innovations of education systems that perform well, in international assessments, are enthusiastically borrowed and copied in the anticipation of similar educational performance and outcomes. Purpose: This purpose of the…

Educators and managers that focus on individuals' strengths can see up to 40× more engagement from those individuals than those that do not. "StrengthsFinder" 2.0 builds a framework to understand and improve those strengths. This resource review will explain the history of the tool, including its origins in positive and strengths…

To test the efficacy of an intervention to reduce tobacco use among youth (10-19 years old) in slum communities in Delhi, India. This community-based cluster-randomized trial included 14 slums composed of purposely built resettlement colonies and adjacent inhabitant-built Jhuggi Jhopris. Youth in the intervention received a 2 year…

Since 1997, the Great Lakes Academy has provided leadership development for more than 800 teachers in a large metropolitan region of the Upper Midwest. Graduates of the 2-year program often describe their experience as transformative, life changing, and profound. To understand the meaning and impact of this transformation, the author used…

Through the lenses of comparative adult education and international educational leadership development, this study explores the learning experiences of local school principals after they participated in a professional development program named "Domestic Study Program" (DSP) in Beijing. A qualitative narrative inquiry was applied and four…