Faced with upcoming administrator retirements, school districts must quickly induct novice administrators. This article compares the benefits of mentoring (pairing the novice with a respected, experienced administrator and moving the novice toward higher productivity and effectiveness) and shadow consulting (placing an expert with the novice to…

Managers are increasingly being held accountable for providing resources that support employee development, particularly in the form of feedback and coaching. To support managers as trainers and coaches, organizations must provide managers with the tools they need to succeed in this area. This article presents a new tool to assist in the diagnosis…

Now that educational reform has targeted principal performance as a key to school excellence, methods and procedures for evaluating these administrators have become an increasing concern. Current studies suggest that evaluation practices used in many districts are ill-suited to improving principals' performance and professional competence. Many…

Effective leadership programs have a clearly defined belief structure and a teaching team that provides direction for both the students and the program. Leadership can be learned, but it is a process, not a position. Like dart throwing, leadership skills can be taught if individuals are coached, have a chance to practice various skills, get…

Reports on a peer assistance program for principals involving training, observation (via shadowing), and feedback. The sample involved nine pairs of Australian principals matched by age, experience, and school size. Reports generally positive findings regarding principals' overall ratings, claimed benefits and limitations, perceived value of…

Despite the phenomenal growth of executive coaching in recent years, there has been little empirical research on its effectiveness. Executive coaching is typically delivered with 360 degree feedback and training. This study tests whether there are significant differences in leadership behavior change for participants who: received feedback alone;…

This study examines the importance placed on managerial competencies across countries. A partial replication of work done 5 years ago, this research demonstrated that various countries' managers have changed the emphasis placed on some managerial competencies. Overall, results showed that many managerial competencies have similar amounts of…

The Bellevue Administrative Professional Development Program was successful in its attempt to have principals learn and apply the skills of clinical supervision. Future opportunities for maintaining the principals' abilities to apply such skills should emphasize the planning and conducting of postobservation conferences with the teacher. (JN)

This paper describes the means by which an in-house evaluation for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) was constructed to facilitate communication among different levels of the agency. The VDOT underwent a decentralization process, beginning in 1986, under the direction of a decentralization committee. In early 1989, a qualitative…

This report focuses on the field test initiated to substantiate the utility and application of previously developed staff development needs assessment instruments and their use. These instruments were intended for use by practicing and pre-service vocational education administrators. (A preliminary report documenting instrument design and…