Many change efforts in schools fail to create the desired lasting change because they do not consider the current school culture. This is especially challenging for a principal beginning in a new school. Using Schein's (2004) definition of culture, this article guides school leaders in diagnosing culture and creating an environment where lasting…

Two pandemics--COVID-19 and systemic racism--are confronting American society, and by extension K-12 schools. Both pandemics have precipitated immediate challenges that schools must navigate, and also draw attention to longstanding, chronic problems in the education system. It's more clear than ever that a return to "normal" won't serve…

Schools implementing Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) are often confronted with concerns from a variety of educational stakeholders about school climate, teaching behavioral expectations, the role of reinforcement, and labeling students. Administrators should be prepared to respond to these concerns with theoretical and…

After 2 years of progress, the literacy initiative at Donaldson Elementary faces challenges because of a disagreement between Principal Joanna Jackson and Literacy Coordinator Loretta Sullivan over whether Sullivan's role should include evaluative classroom observations and whether teachers should be mandated to receive coaching. The case is…

School leaders will never have an easy job, especially those who sit in the principal's chair. Yet identifying site needs, establishing priorities, and devoting the bulk of one's time to these priorities enables principals to more effectively take control of their day. It can be hard to deal with what is important instead of what is urgent, but…

Background: Implicitly, innovative schools have historically contained some (but not usually all) of the properties of learning organizations and professional learning communities but have a weak record of sustaining success over time. Can innovative schools that self-consciously establish themselves as learning organizations and professional…

To help organizations respond effectively to external challenges, college and university leaders must understand how important culture is in determining behaviors, and how the institution's culture responds to change. Identifying an organization's culture and any misalignments between that culture and leadership styles that adversely affect…

Purpose: This article focuses on the sustainability of reform through the lens of teachers' nostalgia--the major form of memory among a demographically dominant cohort of experienced older teachers. Unwanted change evokes senses of nostalgia for these lost missions that take two forms: social and political. As teachers age, their responses to…

Describes the process of restructuring departments at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, and its effects on the foreign language department, international center, and intensive English language program. Discusses problems associated with both the lengthy process and the resulting structure, the home for eleven separate units with distinct…

Entrepreneurial universities (nontraditional institutions that provide instructional services in alternative formats at multiple locations) face a variety of challenges as they attempt to incorporate quality assurance and improvement strategies. The development of these institutions; the resistance they face within academe; and the processes they…

This review examines issues which need to be addressed in order to increase the effectiveness of institutional management of innovation and change in higher education, and is written primarily from a practical perspective rather than from a theoretical or research viewpoint. The paper is divided into two parts: Part I briefly reviews a number of…

One professional school dean's experience with strengthening the scholarly activities of his faculty illustrate the dean's advocacy role, which requires the ability to maintain working relationships with faculty while pressing for change. The evolution of the administrator's strategy for changing the faculty culture is chronicled, and issues…

Change to a middle school brought some complaints from teachers, parents, and students. A principal describes the forces to maintain the status quo and shares her strategies and solutions. Lists nine factors that illustrate the difference in perspective from the traditional approach of education to one of educating students for the twenty-first…

This paper considers, from a British perspective, organizational theory as it applies to colleges, and provides theoretical background for people involved in curriculum-led institutional development, as well as anyone concerned with college organization. Among the topics discussed are the following: (1) institutional resistance to change; (2) the…

Describes an ongoing reengineering project at Yuan Ze University (Taiwan) that has brought about significant change by providing integrated information services to the campus community. Discusses the change process, obstacles encountered, and strategies used to overcome them. Obstacles to the change process were not predominantly technological,…