The COVID-19 pandemic that began in late 2019 but grew into a national crisis during the first three months of 2020 provides a unique context for researching how educational leaders respond to precarity. For leaders who are also mothers, a group that scholars commonly call mother/leaders (Grzelakowski, 2005), the intersections of personal and…

The professional literature views school principals as major socializing agents for assistant principals (AP) due to their ability to determine the AP's responsibilities, assess performance, and influence the AP's willingness to advance to higher management roles. The effect of the relationship between the two on the AP's functioning is even…

Focus on the development of instructional leadership skills for school principals in the U.S. continues to be at the forefront of educational research and reform in response to the increased call for accountability. In this article we review relevant literature regarding instructional leadership from a historical perspective, then present a…

Given rural school administrators' challenges and the need to support their leadership development, this qualitative study describes how one rural school district delivered professional development through a university-school partnership to prepare its assistant principals for their work. Methods: Eight assistant principals from nine schools…

Survey of principal evaluation of administrator preparation program. Data were collected from 180 certified principals using a four-part survey instrument designed by the investigators. Finds, for example, that principals rated mentoring most valuable experience during coursework phase of program. Draws implications for further study. (Contains 25…

Exploratory study of seven superintendents' perspectives on the recruitment process, selection criteria, and final selection decisions of 20 recently hired principals and assistant principals. Superintendents were from a variety of small and midsized school districts and communities. Generates four hypotheses to be tested in future studies.…

A new study of principals in Pennsylvania confirms earlier research findings that principals' participation in a formally defined process for determining their wages and benefits consistently enhances organizational climate and improves principal performance. (JW)

This study of 2,300 secondary school administrators in the U.S. Office of Education (District VI) suggests that assistant principals are more powerless and have a higher level of alienation than do principals. Moreover, promotion to principal is no longer ensured, as assistant principals are routinely assigned to student discipline and other…