Educational administration has recently undergone widespread criticism and reform efforts. Analyzing and comparing eight programs and studies spanning 1950 to 1990, this article concludes that the new wave of ideas (1980-90) resembles earlier waves. Will 1950s models be the vision for the twenty-first century? Change in educational administration…

A process model for the restructuring of educational administration preparation programs is described, with a focus on program content, delivery, and context. Recommendations are made for utilization of a problem-solving, andragogical approach and for structured administrator preparation programs based on the integration of theory and practice.…

Numerous 1983-84 educational improvement studies emphasized the need for strong principal leadership, yet present reform efforts fail to address adequately principal preparation. This proposal for administrative excellence has a four-category focus: recruitment of those with strong liberal arts degrees; selection of those committed to an 11-month…

A review of recent literature and commission reports identifies persistent problems in two areas of educational administration: research and preparation programs. The two problems are linked in that they are often supervised by faculty who direct but do not themselves perform research. Two areas of research needs are the poor research skills of…