In the ESSA Leadership Learning Community (ELLC), education agency leaders, community organization leaders, and others have together taken on challenges facing schools and school leaders in their states. They have produced advice to state agencies on policy design and rollout, for example on official definitions of equity, on requirements for…

This qualitative study of four executive doctoral programs for experienced educational leaders examines the relationship between specific program features and learning opportunities for students. I found that the weekend format, cohort model, and professionally grounded curriculum and assessments provided important opportunities for reflective…

Developments in the content, growth, differentiation, and theory-practice relationships of preparation programs over the last three decades are described. Proposals for improving the knowledge on which programs are based, instructional methods, and application of concepts to practice have changed preparatory programs, but basic issues still demand…

The Administrator Development Academy (ADA) is a six-week, intensive, collaborative-learning experience that explores the theory-practice link and effective leadership qualities. Begun in 1985, the academy is part of the educational administration program at the University of Cincinnati (Ohio). The program stresses communication, collegiality,…

Educational Leadership students need to spend significant time in authentic school contexts working alongside well-prepared mentor principals to be adequately prepared for complex leadership roles. Through carefully-designed internships, students link school leadership theory from academic coursework with actual improvisational practice. This type…

This paper describes the planning and design of an administrator-preparation program to be instituted at the Division of Education at Indiana University South Bend (IUSB) in the summer of 1995. The School Leadership Collaborative received a Lilly Endowment grant in 1993 to collaborate with four surrounding Indiana school corporations. The program…

Educational researchers have rarely been given training or apprenticeship experience in one of the most fundamental but neglected aspects of contemporary educational research: educational research management. The ability to muster the resources and develop effective management skills is an indispensable ingredient of modern research. Women and…