Across the country, school district superintendents are transforming into community school leaders. Responsible for systems of learning that also include school nutrition, bussing, safety, finances, community engagement, and so much more, superintendents recognize that they need a different strategy to effectively address the learning needs of the…

The purpose of this study is to identify different types of school leadership as perceived by teachers and to test the extent that these types predict teacher retention. School leadership varies by perception, context, and may influence a teacher's decision to leave their current school or the profession. Four statistically different types of…

This qualitative phenomenological interview study examined the experiences of principals who completed Stanford University d.school's School Retool fellowship program for school leaders, which focused on using the design thinking process for school improvement toward deeper learning. This research project explored the leadership practices and…

Five years ago, Baltimore City Public Schools seemed on the brink of a breakthrough. The district had been freed from mayoral control after more than a century, and a high-energy superintendent was leading bold moves to de-emphasize central administration, give schools greater autonomy, and engage families in a revitalized portfolio of educational…

Research to date about the English government's policy to make schools independent of local authorities (LAs) has looked at the "macro" level of national policy and at the "micro" level of the institution. The study of which this article is a part, explores changes at the "meso" level--the locality. The article…

As education continues to succumb to deficits in budgets and increasingly high levels of student performance to meet the federal and state mandates, the quest to sustain and retain successful principals is imperative. The National Association of School Boards (1999) portrays effective principals as "linchpins" of school improvement and…

When change is deemed necessary, principals' attitudes towards changes are significant for successful restructuring of schools. This study aimed to ascertain the extent to which principals in Malatya, Turkey, are open to change. A questionnaire was administered to 156 elementary and secondary school principals in Malatya, Turkey. This…

Every child deserves a great school. When kids fail or schools fail, parents must engage and help restore them to the path of success. That assistance is especially called-for during a process called "Restructuring"--a status in federal law that requires schools to make major changes due to dreadful student test scores year-after-year.…

The reform bandwagon has brought about a glut of legislation under the term "education reform." Efforts to define this term have been unsatisfactory. A study by Flanigan et al. attempted to define the term education reform, but it discovered that each state had developed its own definition and program. This finding was a result of a survey sent to…

The strategies comprising America 2000 are organized around four themes: creating better and more accountable schools for today's students, creating a new generation of schools for tomorrow's students, transforming United States into a nation of students, and making our communities places where learning will happen. Long-range impacts, issues, and…

This book considers how education might be organized around domains of caring. It envisions a school system built on the idea that different people have different strengths, and that these strengths should be cultivated in an environment of caring, not of competition. It is argued that liberal traditional education does not provide the best…

The Foxfire Teacher Outreach Network has expanded teacher thinking and practice. Similarly, the principal must possess complementary attitudes and actions for a school to become a setting where change can occur, staff and students can flourish, and risk-taking is valued. This article explores the challenges facing administrators who create…

Reviews elementary and secondary school leadership developments for the decade preceding Britain's 1988 Education Reform Act and during the 1990s. Summarizes major themes, including headteachers' central importance, shared leadership issues, the changing character of heads' professional and entrepreneurial leadership, heads' change-agent role,…

Explores how nine U.S. schools participating in a project to create empowered schools defined empowerment, structured the change process, and transformed school culture. Participating schools fell into three categories (the opportunity school, the shifter school, and the no-go school) regarding their success in changing school culture, creation of…

Shows how a former high school principal (with no doctorate, central office experience, or big-city political savvy) pulled the Cincinnati (Ohio) schools out of a $76 million debt and implemented reforms recommended by the Buenger Commission. The new superintendent slashed central office positions, reorganized 86 schools into 9 minidistricts, and…