This ERIC Digest provides an overview of the competencies needed for effective early childhood center administration and summarizes state regulations governing minimum qualifications of center directors. Specific administrator skills are listed in four topical areas: (1) organization, leadership, and management; (2) child development and early…

Offers and explains four visual models of deployment of instructional supervisors within the hierarchy of school districts. (SRT)

Contemporary models of school reform acknowledge the principal as the passport to school success and the manager of an increasingly complex organization. This digest asserts that principals benefit from professional development that examines best practices, provides coaching support, encourages risk taking designed to improve student learning,…

In this digest the functions of an administrator in gifted and talented education are explored. Administrators are seen to have responsibilities in awareness of the students, in community, and the curriculum. Among specific tasks outlined for administrators are developing plans for continuing identification of gifted students, ensuring that…

The first 2 of the 12 publications reviewed in this annotated bibliography describe what principals actually do as instructional leaders. The first document reports on habits and values evinced by eight schools whose principals were viewed as proficient instructional leaders. Although several distinct leadership styles emerged, the ethic of…

Chapter 7 of a volume on school leadership, this chapter defines, describes, and suggests ways to improve climate at the school building level. After citing a number of definitions of school climate, the authors conclude that school climate is the feel an individual gets from experiences within a school system, or the global summation of the…

This monograph provides a compilation of scholarly literature written about academic deans. The premise on which it rests suggests that changes external to the academy have affected the nature of the academic deanship and will continue to affect it for the foreseeable future. The book considers four questions about the academic deanship. The first…

Ways in which teachers and principals respond to changing leadership roles and some practical steps that principals can take to support leadership are discussed in this article review. It focuses on five papers that explore educators' roles, offering advice on how to respond to changing expectations. "When is New: A Plan of Action" (A. W. Hart)…

This digest considers four questions about the academic deanship. The first is what are deans and what do they do? The position of dean did not gain universal acceptance in U.S. higher education until 1913. Deans continue to be predominantly white and male, and are generally in their mid-fifties. Strong scholarly credentials distinguish most…

A decade ago, principals were asked to become instructional leaders who exercised firm control by setting goals, maintaining discipline, and evaluating results. Today they are encouraged to act as facilitative leaders by building teams, creating networks, and "governing from the center." Rapid shifts in administrative philosophy can be…

A discussion of appropriate ways of preparing students to take standardized tests is presented for school administrators. The point at which preparation practices move beyond the ethical depends on the inferences one wishes to draw from test scores. Inferences drawn from test scores are general in nature and will be inaccurate if instruction is…

This collection of essays describes changes in the environment of leadership for community colleges and considers methods for identifying and developing future leaders. The first section contains articles describing the current context for leadership, including "Maximizing Institutional Responsiveness to Changing Environmental Conditions," by…

All the 11 publications in this annotated bibiliography explore the department head's dual role as teacher and instructional leader. Three articles characterize principals' role as managerial and recommend that primary instructional and curriculur responsibilities be delegated to department heads with clearly designated positions in the school's…

Twelve instructional leadership publications that have previously been entered in the ERIC system were selected for annotation in this booklet. Several articles concern the leadership role of the principal, its definition, and how principals can become leaders. More specifically oriented entries address the role of administrator leadership in…

The definition of the role of school principal is currently undergoing transformation in light of modern school issues and a shortage of qualified candidates. In "A Century's Quest to Understand School Leadership," Kenneth Leithwood and Daniel Duke conclude that recent thinking has focused on six forms of leadership: instructional,…