As members of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) Task Force on Principal Preparation, the authors recently completed a study of the changing role of the secondary principal. One striking finding was that multiple roles and responsibilities leave today's principal feeling chronically harried and overworked. For…

The University of Sydney is a large, research-intensive, campus-based Australian University. Since 2004 a strategic initiative of project-based eLearning support has been creating teams of non-academic and academic staff, who have worked together to develop online resources to meet identified needs. The University's aims in continuing to provide…

Discussion of managing instructional development projects focuses on organization--the step between planning and implementation. Results of poor organization are discussed, and three major tasks of the manager are explained: establishing work groups; assigning responsibilities and authority; and delineating relationships between groups. (Contains…

This final report on the American Association of School Administrators' 1980 Summer Instructional Leadership Conference includes information on the background and scope of the project, a list of presenters and their topics, and plans for future programs. In addition, abstracts of 20 papers presented at the conference are appended. (WD)

How important is a high-quality curriculum? A school without a quality curriculum is like a car without an engine--neither goes anywhere. One responsibility of a school administrator is to ensure that quality curriculum is designed, adopted, and implemented. The No Child Left Behind act (NCLB) has focused the attention of an entire nation on the…

Presents competencies the school site administrator must have in order to foster the appropriate learning environment and suggests an integrated system of preservice and inservice training to foster these competencies. (Author/JM)

Describes the production of master instructional materials as one step in a project management model for instructional development. Maintaining a balance between instructional integrity and production values is discussed; the manager's role is described; and guidelines for involving subject matter experts and the sponsors in production are…

Principals can and should develop strategies that will enable them to provide instructional leadership despite increased demands from other tasks. Recommended actions include: delegation; peer observation; commitment to instructional leadership; and effective communication with teachers. (CB)

Administrators and teachers must gain more knowledge of new research on the gifted and use this information to create new educational programs that make optimal use of gifted students' learning styles and appropriate teaching methods. (CB)

This paper describes a program at the Vallejo (California) School District involving the use of instructional support teams composed of principals and teachers from each school to promote instructional improvement by increasing school-site leadership and teamwork between administrators and teachers. First, background information is given to…

A staff and organizational development program was designed to foster the use of research to improve instructional effectiveness at the elementary level by monitoring and managing key classroom variables related to student achievement. A classroom improvement program, called the Basic Skills Instructional Improvement Program (BSIIP), was developed…

After listing 20 desirable character traits for the principal, the authors detail more than 50 functions and competencies of the principal in the areas of the learning environment, student learning needs, the instructional program, staff development, community resources, building management, and financial management. (Author/JM)

In April 1993, the Alaska Department of Education conducted an instructional technology survey of all schools and school districts. The purposes of the survey were to collect baseline data on the numbers and types of technologies for instruction currently employed in Alaska schools, to collect information on utilization of the technologies, to…

A problem facing many supervisors and administrators in K-12 and higher education is how to effectively integrate technology into the instructional proram. Professional development plays a key role in providing training and support required to develop the instructional technology (IT) skills necessary to have a positive effect on instruction. This…

The theory of comprehensive educational development is explored in terms of a plan for its implementation at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC). The report first discusses the curriculum development model proposed by Taba in 1961 and identifies its curricular, instructional, and faculty development components. A rationale for a…