As institutions, schools hold a place of significant value for their stakeholders. Selznick (1957/1984) recognised that institutions require a particular type of leadership that is concerned with the promotion and protection of values. Although not a new theory, institutional leadership has not received much attention by both researchers and…

Purpose: Isolate the voice of recently retired educational leaders to better understand the essential elements of educational leadership from individuals who spent a career supporting schools and leading people. Research Methods: This qualitative study used snowball sampling to identify 10 recently retired educational leaders who were willing to…

Principals who engage in wellness strategies can both enhance their holistic wellness and leadership abilities. These strategies may include engaging in physical activity, seeking personal counseling, having a sense of purpose, and maintaining professional and personal relationships and support systems (Visger, 2016). However, like principals,…

Cognitive complexity (CC)--the ability to differentiate and integrate in a dynamic environment--has been shown to be essential to understanding complex and uncertain environments. However, educational leaders' CC has not been examined. In the current exploratory research, we examine the effect of school middle leaders' CC in relation to their Big…

Educators in PK-12 schools were surveyed to seek their perceptions of colleagues who they considered informal teacher leaders, defined as leaders who were not appointed to a leadership role by a school or district administrator. The survey asked administrators, educational specialists, and teachers working in PK-12 schools across four states to…

This article presents pilot study results of two leadership performance assessments, designed for a California principal preparation program and embedded in preparation using two learning approaches. The pilot study had two purposes: to evaluate the assessments' content validity and to evaluate the candidates' leadership skills as demonstrated…

The rallying, clarion call to #SayHerName has prompted the United States to intentionally include the lives, voices, struggles, and contributions of Black women and countless others of her ilk who have suffered and strived in the midst of anti-Black racism. To advance a leadership framework that is rooted in the historicity of brilliance embodied…

There is fertile ground to expand the ideas of resilience and growth as two important skills in leadership (Bell, 2009). Little research has examined how trauma and violence are reappropriated in post-trauma contexts. In fact, resiliency and adaptive strategies often influence life and career choices (Wolin & Wolin, 1993). Although this…

Mentoring is one important construct to support novice principals in this time of change. This study investigates the impact of a district-developed handbook to support co-constructed mentoring practices and cultivate a learning culture within a suburban school district. The handbook offered a framework of interactive systems and tools for…

This qualitative study examined the development of prospective leaders (PLs) from nonuniversity-based leadership preparation programs along two core dimensions identified as critical to leaders' capacity to affect change--inclusive-facilitative and instructional leadership (Bryk, Sebring, Allensworth, Luppescu, & Easton, 2010). Within the core…

The purpose of this Q-methodology study was to develop an understanding of the perceptions of assistant principals of their current and idealized leadership practices. Fifty-six current assistant principals sorted a set of leadership behaviors two times--first based on dispositions currently deployed in their practice and a second time based on…

This paper describes the development and validation of a science teacher leadership instrument modeled on the seven domains of the Teacher Leader Model (TLM) Standards (The Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium, 2011). Instrument development was part of National Science Foundation--funded Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) program that…

This study examined the variation in cultural competence among leaders in four different residential schools for the Deaf across the United States. The study explored where leaders fell on the cultural continuum, and how this was reflected in the schools in the way each perceived and validated Deaf culture as well as other cultures present in the…

This study examines how 57 aspiring school leaders understand what it means to lead for social justice in K-12 schools. Grounded theory was employed for this qualitative study. The data collection included 855 audio and video reflections (15-55 minutes), 513 written narratives, 57 equity audits, and field notes. Emerging themes for this report…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify (1) teacher-leaders' descriptions of their roles and activities, (2) perceptions of characteristics, knowledge, and skills of successful teacher leaders, (3) barriers to and support needed for teacher leadership, (4) the extent to which teacher leaders helped teachers understand and respond to…