Special education teacher attrition has numerous negative impacts for students and schools. Administrators play an essential role in supporting special educators, but they seldom receive adequate preparation to provide this support effectively. The authors synthesize job characteristics theory, an area of research conducted by organizational…

Certain widely tested educational practices have been shown to have a significantly beneficial impact on student learning and success in college. These "high-impact practices" include first-year experiences, common intellectual experiences, learning communities, writing-intensive courses, collaborative assignments and projects,…

Every good leader needs a tool belt. Throughout the author's years of building early childhood programs, she has acquired a number of tools for her personal belt. These tools have helped her sharpen her skills in supporting teachers and staff, connecting with families, and educating children. This article focuses on those leadership skills that…

In the popular movie series "Pirates of the Caribbean," there is a pirate code that influences how pirates behave in unclear situations, with a running joke about whether the code is either a set of rules or guidelines for behavior. Codes of conduct in any social group or organization can have much the same feel; they can provide clarity and…

Today, independent school leaders operate at the fault line of pundits, parents, teachers, staff, students, board members, researchers, consultants, and more. They need to lead key constituents while weighing constituent expectations. They need to know how to sift through the increasing flow of evolving practices, research, and viewpoints…

The "Practitioner Data Use in Schools: Workshop Toolkit" is designed to help practitioners systematically and accurately use data to inform their teaching practice. The toolkit includes an agenda, slide deck, participant workbook, and facilitator's guide and covers the following topics: developing data literacy, engaging in a cycle of…

Student-Based Budgeting (sometimes called Weighted Student Funding, or Fair Student Funding, depending on the district) differs fundamentally from the traditional funding model, which distributes resources to schools in the form of staff and dollars designated for specific purposes. Student-Based Budgeting (SBB) allocates dollars to schools based…

For veteran principals, new principals, and aspiring principals, this book is a valuable resource for building instructional momentum during the beginning of the school year. Educational leadership expert Shawn Joseph guides administrators through five key areas: (1) Vision; (2) Instructional Leadership; (3) Politics; (4) Data; and (5) Planning.

These qualitative case studies give the prospective superintendent a real-life look at life on the other side of the district CEO's desk. Two dozen superintendents reflect upon their first challenges and growth opportunities that arose during that all-important first year. They tell it like it is, no sugar-coating. The experiences they listed, in…

In this article, the authors describe some of the top websites recommended by colleagues for the Association of California School Administrators. The Top 12 for 2012 are: (1) Facebook (facebook.com); (2) Twitter (twitter.com); (3) Tungle (tungle.me); (4) FCMAT (fcmat.org); (5) YouSendIt (yousendit.com); (6) Slideshare (slideshare.net); (7) QR…

School districts have typically not done a good job of managing the human side of teacher evaluation. In general, neither supervisors nor teachers find performance assessment a constructive, interpersonally respectful experience. District leaders can cultivate high-quality teaching--and attend to the human side of assessment--by taking five…

When you're in a leadership position and can't control paychecks, what can you do to increase morale and lower staff turnover? Get this book and use the many practical ideas for motivating educators and creating a more positive work climate in schools. Author and experienced school leader Emily E. Houck explains: (1) Why recognizing and cheering…

Saying "teaching matters most" is easy, and seems obvious. Making it the top priority for school leaders and staff is not so easy--in fact, it's messy. If we want to change how students write, compute, and think, then teachers must change how they teach. They must transform the old "assign-and-assess" model into engaging, compassionate, coherent,…

What should boards be concerned about in 2012? What new issues--or old aspects of new issues--are on the horizon that boards should be addressing? What crucial topics should be on their agendas? Nine people who have years of broad and varied experience in higher education and its governance were asked for their views. As members of the AGB…

The purpose of this manual is to assist school leaders in beginning or developing the use of educational technology within their school or district. The manual covers topics: 1) advantages of educational technology; 2) types of technology used for learning and teaching; 3) how to make good decisions about the use of technology in schools; 4) the…