Educators and policy makers have placed leadership development at the top of the school reform agenda, believing that aspiring and new school leaders can learn the necessary skills to improve the most challenging schools. Leadership development builds the capacity of educators (teachers and administrators) to be effective in leadership roles or…

Discusses promising professional development strategies for schools seeking to operate as learning communities. Recent shifts in conceptions of schools and implications of these shifts for school leadership are explored, and the principles of professional development are discussed which are then connected to recommendations for staff developers.…