Teachers have the greatest school-based effect on the achievement of any child in their classrooms, but highly effective principals can positively affect the achievement of every student in their schools. The difference between a highly effective principal and an average one is equal to two-to-seven months of extra learning per year for each child…

Over the next five years, schools will be expected to replace more than 60% of key leadership in independent schools. This is just one example of the growing evidence of shortages of persons filling key leadership positions. Based on this increasing concern, there is a need to develop a strategy to ensure the efficacy of prospective heads and…

This booklet describes how managers and their organizations can benefit by preparing for formal developmental experiences. Such preparation includes clarifying expectations, understanding and increasing motivation for attending, and making sure that the work environment supports the changes in both behavior and perspective that lead to more…

At the present juncture, South Africa is one of the few countries that do not require a compulsory and specific qualification for principalship. This particular need has been part of a discussion among educational leaders for the past thirty to forty years. Despite all the laudable efforts to redesign the landscape of Educational Leadership and…

Major changes in the context in which education managers will be operating in the 1990s presents challenges for heads of schools, while at the same time providing opportunities for heads to function more powerfully at the school level. The dominant professional management models are discussed from a historical perspective; they include the…

An analysis of academic intransigence (resistance to change) in educational administrative preparation programs is presented in this paper. Drawing upon two conceptual frameworks, the stakeholder perspective and Porter's (1980) five-force model of industry structure and competitive influence, two factors contributing to academic intransigence are…

The Task Force on School Leadership and Management was charged with examining incentives that states can develop to encourage effective management at the district and school leadership level. Four papers are presented in this report: (1) "School Leadership and Management" (Cindy K. Currence); (2) "A Policymaker's Guide to Improving…

Planning, a key management responsibility, is the process of determining the thrust of an organization's activities. The basic concepts of planning are objectives and policies. Objectives are the ends by organizational effort. Policies limit the means by which ends are sought. Strategic planning concentrates on determining the ends to be sought,…

Examines themes emerging from the articles in this journal issue on transformational leadership in education (the postmodern, critical theory, the need for more case studies, and the role of discourse). (SM)

This guide presents a unique look at leadership succession issues in the public school sector, particularly the shortage of quality principals. It provides a stimulus for conversation for senior leadership in school systems, an outline for those educators interested in preparing their own leadership succession plan, and an actual leadership…

Two conferences were held to assist principals, superintendents, deans, and Teacher Corps directors in institutionalizing the temporary systems of Teacher Corps projects into the permanent systems of the school, community, or university. The overall goals for the conferences were: (1) to develop and test a variety of professional development…

An experiential course in administrative practice was designed at the University of Maine to address public and professional demands for competency-centered preparation courses. The course employs a predesigned case study replicating a school setting to move students beyond theory and into the interpersonal relationships and personal dimensions of…

The National Policy Board for Educational Administration (NPBEA) recommends a nine-item agenda for reform of the preparation of educational administrators. The agenda addresses reform issues in the areas of people, programs, and assessment. In addition to describing the agenda, this document: (1) depicts the problems to which the agenda is…

The task of improving educational administrator preparation is one of epic proportions. The magnitude of the task is expressed using allusions to the epic style and the myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece. The paper presents a quick "environmental scan" to determine how visionary and revolutionary are some current ideas for improvements…