Standardized assessments long have played a role in public education. For much of that time, they have been faulted as too time-consuming, too restrictive, and too removed from real teaching and learning. The shift to new standards and assessments turns the page on this. Illinois put in place the new Illinois Learning Standards to make clear what…

With the hopeful prospect of new money before them and the continued pressure to stretch every dollar, school districts face a choice: do more of the same, or seize this moment of change to re-envision schooling to better meet student needs. This means thinking strategically about the resources school systems have and ensuring new funds go toward…

Both speaking and listening are essential to effective communication. Unfortunately, meaningful two-way exchanges are largely absent from conversations about improving professional practice. Instead, many teachers say that they feel the observation and evaluation process is something that is done "to" them--at the post-observation…

In spite of tough financial times, resourceful school leaders devise ways to overcome challenges and improve education. To do this, they make strategic use of the resources they have. And they also cultivate learning communities. In this article, Elizabeth A. City describes how school leaders can make more strategic use of three essential…

Many school leaders today are experiencing many challenges to ensure that their schools are successful. Since the passage of No Child Left Behind Act, school leaders have been faced with making sure that all students, regardless of language and/or background, are successful on the state assessment test. If students do not make AYP Annual Yearly…

In this article, the author, an educational administrator, gives advice on how to handle two jobs at once. Some suggestions include: (1) Create a labeled in-basket system; (2) Maintain telephone logs; (3) Establish a top-drawer folder; and (4) Maintain a desk calendar with all appointments.

Those who work in the multi-billion-dollar construction industry routinely face uncertainty and risks related to cost, schedule and safety. One of the most common problems is failing to complete a project on time and within budget. This seems to be magnified for school and university projects--education institutions often limited budgets, and…

Some Kansas school administrators are spending less time in meetings and accomplishing more by (1) asking if a meeting is necessary; (2) being punctual; (3) stating the focus of the meeting; (4) limiting meetings to five to seven participants; (5) providing minutes; and (6) using team-based management. (MLF)

This paper reports the work of a spring 1999 class of beginning-level students in educational administration who were challenged by their professor either to define the term "professionalism" for the field or to cease using the term. In accepting the challenge to find meaning in the term, the students researched the literature, talked…

This brief report contains basic data on the management of pupils' school time in European primary and secondary education. A wide range of aspects are covered, including the duration of compulsory education, the organization of the school year, the distribution of holidays, and daily and weekly timetables. A description is given of each of these,…

Describes the development of a model Web-based distance-learning graduate course in Engineering Management at Drexel University (Pennsylvania). Highlights include a new pedagogical model; vendor selection; knowledge engineering; time commitment; development management; copyright issues; and costs. (LRW)

Decision makers are faced daily with making important and pervasive decisions. This is especially significant in higher education, where decisions about academics will have considerable impact on the next generation of leaders. In place of rational decisions about the substance of learning and instruction, academic administrators make incremental…

The manuscript explains the rationale, development, and success of a computer-mediated asynchronous learning (CMAL) program of graduate studies in Educational Leadership and Higher Education offered through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln . It details the evolution of the concept focusing on an integrated sequence of high-quality learning to:…