The daily demands on school principals require clear and consistent feedback, and without a mentor, a new principal may not have this type of assistance. This phenomenological study explores the perceptions of new principals and their assigned mentors in one legislated initiative, named by the researcher as the Vermont mentoring…

Effective schools research gave birth to a new role for principals: instructional leader. Recent studies have suggested the relationship between strong school instructional leadership and higher student achievement. Skeptics question whether the principal's job is realistic and reasonable, with its emphasis on instructional leadership, multiple…

Discusses the Bay Area Writing Project's offshoot, the National Writing Project (NWP). Describes the NWP's development, design, attributes, and limitations. The program's success depends upon the commitment of administrators and all teachers, not just those teaching English. (WD)

The role of the principal in community involvement is central to this article which discusses issues, problems, and strategies used by effective principals. Data are provided that reflect attitudes of citizens and principals toward the schools. (Author/LD)

Presents and explains how to use a checklist for helping principals determine the presence of effective elements in their schools' staff development programs. The checklist process involves testing such program factors as school commitment levels, needs assessment components, program development activities, program implementation and evaluation,…

Describes current attitudes toward staff development through inservice education, the need to coordinate staff evaluation and inservice programs, and the leadership required of administrators and committees. Particular attention is paid to basing inservice programs on needs expressed by teachers. The program followed in Fort Lee (New Jersey) is…

Reviews 20th-century research on gifted students and on approaches to their education. Discusses recent federal and organizational initiatives and describes several current approaches to gifted education. Includes an extensive bibliography. (MCG)

Principals supporting effective programing for gifted students should exhibit competencies listed in this article when exercising planning and leadership, developing philosophy, determining goals and objectives, understanding gifted students' characteristics, identifying gifted students, financing and staffing the program, providing guidance and…

The National Association of Secondary School Principals and the American School Counselor Association concur that a school-counseling program's success requires capitalizing on counselors' training, expertise, and ability to deliver a program that contributes significantly to the school's mission and supports expectations of new standards and…