This article provides an overview of the contexts, the key features, and the evidentiary data--the criteria regarding candidates to engage in administrative work--for five innovative principal preparation programs. Short case studies and cross-case analysis of the sample programs are used to provide thorough descriptions. The five programs in fact…

This article takes a critical look at administrative decision making in schools and the extent to which complex decisions conform to normative models and common expectations of rationality. An alternative framework for administrative decision making is presented that is informed, but not driven, by theories of rationality. The framework assumes…

The principalship may be the most demanding school administrator role. Principals strive to provide vision and unity of purpose within challenging, dynamic, and highly political settings. To enhance job security, principals should refine their interpersonal skills, maintain a proper world perspective, delegate tasks appropriately, look for signs…

Given the unrelenting pressures of school management, how can principals and superintendents devote the time or resources to do much of anything that deviates from addressing the basic needs of schools? What are the levers that school leaders can use to infuse creativity and innovation into the cultural fabric of their organizations? In this…

Telephone interviews with several California principals and superintendents disclosed inconsistent principal-evaluation procedures. Principals said they were concerned about possible negative influences of covert superintendent and/or board agendas and district micromanagement of schools on their evaluations. Strategies for improving practice and…

Although "Jordanesque" checklists cannot describe the full dimension of effective school leadership, the literature has generated some commonly accepted principles categorized according to personal attributes, leader behaviors, and organizational outcomes. Sensitive to others' needs, effective principals are generally warm, caring…

Compared 124 California principals' perceptions with 99 superintendents' perceptions on 22 reasons for principal terminations and on 9 organizational outcomes related to ineffective leadership. Superintendents attribute principals' failure to internal personal insufficiencies; principals most often named external factors--political interference…