Purpose: This study examines the deployment of excellent retired principals (ERPs) as system leaders to facilitate systemic professional capital building in Taipei City, Taiwan. It explores the unique approach of the Taipei City government and contributions of ERPs in driving educational reforms. Design/methodology/approach: This study combines…

The success of school communities and their stakeholders is determined by the leadership at the helm of the organization, as the arc of decision-making lies within their hands. Therefore, an analysis of principals' decision-making processes and their potential impact is of great significance. In the realm of decision-making, "systems thinking…

Drawing on the science of reading and research on high-performing schools and effective leadership, authors Pati Montgomery and Angela Hanlin provide school and district leaders with the tools to systematically implement and create the necessary systems and structures for evidence-based literacy instruction. By focusing on the establishment of…

School principals' decisions are made within the complex organizations called schools. This study explored how systems thinking is reflected in principals' perceptions about their decision-making processes. Based on a qualitative analysis of interviews and focus groups, principals' descriptions of their own effective decision-making reflected…

This paper shares findings from case study research into how school principals respond to ethical dilemmas. Preliminary research instigated a criteriological inquiry into the nature of schools as systems and findings of that inquiry conclude that schools are complex adaptive social systems rather than the open complicated systems they are…

The notion of schools as "loosely coupled" organizations has been widely discussed in the research literature. Many argue it is either a protective mechanism for schools to buffer external pressure or a barrier for implementing new reforms. Against the backdrop of systemic change and accountability, we applied a two-level hierarchical…

In 2008 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development presented system leadership (leadership beyond a single institution) as more effective than traditional approaches to public services delivery in responding to the external drivers of globalisation, new technologies and increasing societal complexity. This paper reports the…

This qualitative case study used General Systems Theory and social network analysis to explore the relationships between the members of a district central office and principals of elementary schools within an urban school district in the Midwest. Findings revealed sparse relationships between members of the district central office and principals,…

Urban school leaders have challenges in continually improving student achievement and making change as quickly as needed. To address this problem 37 non-Title I principals completed an on-line survey, Principal's Actions Survey (PAS), based on the seven responsibilities for second order change identified by Marzano, Waters, and McNulty (2005).…

A framework using concepts from systems theory, theories of power, and the garbage can model of decision-making was developed for the purpose of teaching aspiring school administrators to analyze situations using a political lens. The framework is demonstrated in an analysis of the process that led to Ohio's establishing a school facilities…

Both the curricula and methodology of preparing principals is the subject of this article. Describing procedures that work, it will interest principals as well as professors of school administration. (Editor)

The administrative team is made up of all personnel in the school environment who are directly involved in the instructional process. The principal serves as the team leader responsible for the supervision of instruction in the school and the development of a staff organization which best implements the educational program. Recognizing that modern…

This report presents a model for participation by the community, teachers, and administrators in the decisionmaking process. The report tells how the Boise, Idaho, school district used a systems approach to set up a decentralized decisionmaking system. The duties of various persons in the system (with emphasis on the importance of the role of the…

The work reported here is exploratory and investigative in nature, but it is expected to lead to a systematic research program designed to test the validity of propositions about the innovation process. Part 1 is introductory. Part 2 sets the stage for discussion of the Research for Better Schools, Inc. (RBS) field research. Part 3 enumerates the…

The papers in this monograph review the literature and summarize recent research findings on factors affecting educational change in the public schools. The authors also report the reactions of several principals who have attempted to implement significant educational innovation in their schools. In the opening chapter, Kenneth A. Tye uses a…