This article reports findings of a mail survey of 519 managers in blindness services on their preferences for management training seminars. Preferences vary somewhat according to management level; there is little or no variation by region, public versus private auspices, education versus rehabilitation, or time in present position. (Author/PB)

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) Assessment Center Project expects to have 53 comprehensive centers in operation by June 1986. Behavior modeling is the training strategy for professional development, and research has confirmed that the process can help predict who will be a successful administrator. (MLF)

Professional development programs provide useful learning experiences to administrators who think strategically about the value of the programs to themselves and to their institutions of higher education. Few supervisors encourage participation, so individuals must survey the opportunities and find those that match their needs for current and…

School study councils should explore adopting assessment center technology (ACT) for selection and development of administrators, a process long used by other organizations. A center's assessors identify, measure, and analyze acceptable position performance levels within simulated exercises and managerial skills. (ll endnotes) (CJH)

The Duke University (North Carolina) experience using adventure-based or wilderness learning programs for staff development is discussed, focusing on the program rationale, planning, common responses of participants and nonparticipants, and outcomes. Quotations from program assessments are included. A brief list of relevant industry resources is…

This paper describes a professional development process for principals centered on collaborative inquiry and reflection around case stories--written and oral descriptions of real-life leadership situations. In small, collegial groups, principals are invited to write, tell, and listen to each other's case stories about dilemmas in the workplace. In…

A newly organized small college model for a decentralized institutional research office was described and evaluated. Using Hearn and Corcoran's six external or organizational forces (external environment, personalities or individual interests, management styles, power arrangements, microcomputing and telecommunications, and structural and…

This study assesses the usefulness of case records in significantly expanding the base of knowledge in education administration. Forty-six school personnel case records were examined in regard to: how respondents perceive and describe problem situations; whether or not alternative strategies are reported and, if so, what types; and what kind of…

Since principals are chiefly responsible for school improvement and effectiveness, professional development opportunities must be provided throughout their administrative careers. Research has identified certain behavior patterns causally related to principals' effectiveness. Since the summer of 1984, the North Central Regional Staff Development…

In a pilot test, superintendents participated in self-assessment activities in the American Association of School Administrator's Executive Development Center program. Activity stages centered on professional attitudes and skills, personal health, and fitness. Data provided a profile for professional development. Participants felt activities were…

This report describes and analyzes the role played by key actors in initiating and implementing major reform in the management of the department of education in Victoria, the second largest state in Australia. Focus is during 1979-84, the time of the greatest administrative reform in the department's history. Study goals include the analysis of…

Florida's department of education and state university system face the question of how to institutionalize effective methods and techniques to improve administrators' performance. This report attempts to clarify the management roles of coaching, mentoring, and sponsoring. The clarification is necessary because, first, the terms (especially…

Each of the Total Quality Management principles used in industry can be appropriately and usefully applied in a college or university, with some change in vocabulary and emphases. Institutions will find the method helpful in competition for students, controlling costs, and answering demands for accountability. (MSE)

This paper reports on the objectives and specifications of an "educative leadership" project that aims to synthesize experience, research, and theory and to develop complementary inservice and postgraduate learning materials. Researchers and theorists are now addressing the lack of philosophical machinery in educational administration.…

Research on motivation to manage can be summarized in five points: (1) motivation to manage is a major factor for success; (2) motivation to manage declined in students from the 1960's to the 1970's; (3) this decline is evident in the relevant age groups; (4) differences between United States students and foreign students place the United States…