This paper describes outcomes of a series of teacher professional development grants that put teachers in the driver's seat of their own professional learning. Teachers used grant funds to build a team, select a focus for their teams' professional growth, and take actions that they felt would be most effective in helping them improve their…

The Tennessee Achievement School District (ASD) was created in 2011 to rapidly turn around the lowest performing schools in the state by authorizing high performing charter management organizations to operate the schools. A lack of enough quality applicants, however, led the district to directly run a group of schools. This research investigates…

This ethnographic study reports on the socialization processes of a white male as he assumes a central office position. Individuals are willing to be socialized as part of learning a new role as part of their upward mobility, and in order to please those around them. The organization demands certain types because the position addresses many…

Data from Kansas' 265 rural school districts from 1978-1979 through 1983-1984 revealed that there were 194 superintendent changes and 33 central office administrator changes during that period. Based on a total of 265 superintendencies and 46 central office administrator positions, the average number of superintendent changes per year was 32.33,…

School restructuring, or school-based management, is one of the most widely discussed educational reform movements. School restructuring improves education by giving teachers and principals more independence and responsibility in the educational process. The accelerated-schools process provides a means for school restructuring, emphasizing unity…

Under conditions of restructuring, the most noticeable changes in roles and relationships occur at the school site. The purpose of this paper is to examine the changing roles and relationships of schools, central offices, and university facilitators as 11 schools in Louisiana implement the nationally recognized Accelerated Schools process. The…

The basic procedures for the recruitment, selection, induction, and development of administrative central office or building personnel are presented in this document. Also included are the addresses of 11 associations with which to advertise for administrative applicants, examples of interview questions and discussion statements, 10 steps to a…

To explore the relationship between occupational stressors and educational administration, a random sample of 226 Oklahoma administrators was given an administrative stress questionnaire. The administrators--including 52 superintendents, 50 central office administrators, 61 secondary principals, and 63 elementary principals--were all enrolled at…

A study of participation in the Louisiana Educational Employees Professional Improvement Program (PIPS) by the administrators in two parish (county) school systems indicated that the program was very attractive and that a wide variety of university courses, workshops, conferences, and conventions were attended under the program. PIPS, made…

The objectives of this study of public school administrators were to determine the level of burnout experienced by school administrators, the relationships between burnout and stress measures, the factors associated with burnout, and the relationships between administrative level and components of the Administrative Role Perception Inventory…

In examining the dynamics of change processes in high schools, this study makes initial interpretations about school officials who serve as change facilitators. The researchers found that a trend exists for the source of change to come from outside the high school. Principals, assistant principals, and department heads as well as central office…

Four years ago, the Colorado education system embarked on a course to downsize central offices in response to calls for accountability and site-based decision making. This paper presents findings of a study that examined restructuring and downsizing in four Colorado school districts. One consequence of downsizing was a reduction in force at the…

The amount of knowledge that site and central office administrators possess about the ethical use of computer software in schools is assessed in this report. Specific questions addressed included the existence of related policies, administrators' knowledge of policies, and degree of site compliance. Four district and 10 site administrators were…

Many Ohio educators are retiring at a young age and returning to positions in public schools following retirement. Some states restrict retirees' returning to public-school employment. Ohio is the most lenient state of eight states reviewed in allowing retirees to return to work in public schools. This report provides the results of a study of 25…

This report describes a study of the perceptions of central-office supervisors. The purpose of the study was to determine the perceptions of central-office supervisors regarding emerging supervisory practices within a decentralized context. The study further sought to determine the role central-office supervisors perform in exemplary school…