Effective schools research gave birth to a new role for principals: instructional leader. Recent studies have suggested the relationship between strong school instructional leadership and higher student achievement. Skeptics question whether the principal's job is realistic and reasonable, with its emphasis on instructional leadership, multiple…

Given the challenges of a culturally and linguistically diverse student body, one exemplary high school has developed supportive schooling practices that provide academic rigor and access for all students while embracing their linguistic and cultural identities. This ethnographic study documents how this school contributed to the college…

Because the demand for excellence in public education is ever present, this article explores the development of a professional enhancement program designed to select and develop a qualified, competent faculty and staff. The basis for the program is a strong educational philosophy, which leads to a vision of what schools can be. It stresses the…

Schools across the country are pressured to reform by federal and state mandates. Because resistance is a major factor in reform failure, it is crucial for principals to discover why teachers resist change. This article explores the leadership and organizational change literature regarding some common barriers to change. Research-based strategies…

Reviews various classroom management and discipline models. An effective in-service program should provide schoolwide uniformity without sacrificing flexibility and include three steps: knowledge of basic, research-based principles; a background in available management and discipline models; and a cooperatively developed total school discipline…

High school coaches and activity advisers who apply participatory management principles will be far more effective in the 1990s than those who do not. Democratically managed activities are consistent with effective schools research. All activities should be managed within a single activities department and have positive educational outcomes.…

Measuring the school administrator's productivity based on the existence of effective school characteristics can be misguided. There are no magic bullets or answers to linking effective schools to leadership productivity, but the "smoke and mirrors" assessment approach is easier to achieve than seeking the real truth. No single assessment…

Although the research on teacher effectiveness provides a vocabulary and system for improving insights into good teaching, it may induce rigidity into our viewpoints. Following only the research on teaching can put too much emphasis on specific behaviors that cannot be easily measured or prescribed in advance. Includes 24 references. (MLH)

Legislators, school boards, and district administrators proposing more changes affecting schools and the principal's role should realize that many principals have little capacity to assume additional duties. Time constraints and external priorities are converting principals from instructional leaders to managers, while increasing their role's…

To determine effects of uniforms on school climate, students in two Charleston (South Carolina) County middle schools were surveyed in Spring 1966, using NASSP's Comprehensive Assessment of School Environments (CASE) School Climate Survey. Students in the uniform school rated climate as more positive in 9 out of 10 subscales. School uniforms are…

To create effective schools, principals must make learning and teaching their highest priority. Effective schools research shows that, when teachers expect students to learn, help them learn, and hold them accountable for learning, they learn and improve their academic performance. Learning expectancy phases are traced from 1837 to the present.…

Changes in administrative procedures can help schools achieve their goals. Principals must cultivate the necessary networking and empowerment by providing staff members with training, time to review their philosophies, and access to student data. These approaches helped a Virginia high school adopt total quality management and block scheduling.…