There is growing consensus among educators and policy makers that the gap in academic outcomes that exists along socio-economic and racial lines is the most pressing educational challenge of the day. Given their daily work teaching in public schools in the nation's lowest-income urban and rural communities, Teach For America teachers--or "corps…

This guide is designed to offer strategies for building leadership capacity in schools and to assist school administrators in finding new ways to encourage and support teachers and students in their efforts to succeed. The guide answers four questions: (1) What do leaders do to create curriculum and instruction that push all students to higher…

This book is intended as a practical guide for university administrators, especially those department chairpersons who are new on the job. Chapter topics include: (1) "Advice to the New Department Chairperson"; (2) "Seven Habits of Successful Chairpersons"; (3) "Duties and Responsibilities of Department Chairpersons"; (4) "Providing Leadership";…

This report documents a study that examined what school leaders actually do to effectively lead schools. It then presents what this implies for policy and leadership development. Data for the study were collected from interviews with principals, vice principals, and teachers from 21 public, private, charter, contract, and magnet schools in 4…

Argues for the importance of high school principals taking charge of their schools. Examines the following obstacles to effective leadership: historical developments in education in the last decades, union influence, legal problems, paperwork burdens, and lack of community and parent support. Also discusses the symbolic role of principals. (JB)

Work is a key part of an individual's identity. As such, an important part of effective and caring leadership is to care for the worker's mind, body, and spirit. An administrator has responsibility for making child caregivers feel valued, respected, and understood. The workplace should be an environment which fosters professionally and personally…

Recognizing the importance of leadership in effective school administration, this document begins by discussing leadership as defined by Etzioni (1975), including ideas such as personal influence; positional power; the difference between instrumental and expressive leadership; and organizational type as defined by the dominant means of control in…

This descriptive study surveyed deans (N=142), department chairs (N=392), and faculty (N=1173) to examine their perceptions of the relationship between resource adequacy within institutions of higher education and administrators' management styles. The clusters of variables examined were: (1) management style (use of communication and…

Written for trustees and college/university presidents, this book examines and discusses the relationship between the governing board and college presidents in higher education. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the college presidency. Chapter 2 presents a review of the research on leadership which demonstrates that the policies and practices of…

A literature review and discussion the effect of school administrators on staff morale is presented in this paper. Four factors for improving staff morale include: a supportive workplace; meaningful incentives; a good working environment; and personal display of high morale by the administrator. Ten recommendations for improving staff relations…

This publication introduces an assessment instrument to help programs implement management competencies. It discusses development of management competencies and describes the Management Competencies Assessment Instrument (MCAI) designed to help managers verify and validate their competencies and use the information for planning professional…

This publication identifies a set of recognized skills and knowledge areas possessed by effective professional development (PD) coordinators. It is designed to enable PD staff and their supervisors to think reflectively about their PD system, to identify how the system builds on the strengths of the coordinator and the PD staff, to identify where…

Cognitive intelligence is often equated with eventual success in many areas. However, there are many instances where people of high IQ flounder whereas those of modest IQ do surprisingly well. Author and renowned psychologist Daniel Goleman believes that the explanation for this fact lies in abilities called "emotional intelligence,"…

This study researched how the characteristics of higher learning institutions affect the persistence and learning of college students. The author examined the extent to which perceptions of students' academic, personal, and career development and their satisfaction with their educational experiences in the two-year college are related to measures…

Presents guidelines for the center director's task of identifying and intervening on behalf of a child at risk, whether the risk be of neglect, abuse, or developmental delay. Emphasizes that the role of director is one of referral rather than of diagnosis, and discusses ideas for making a referral process as beneficial as possible.(AA)