Until recently, there were few attempts to apply the assessment-center concept to education in the United Kingdom. The University of East London's center is one successful example. This paper discusses assessment and development centers' effectiveness in selecting the headteacher most appropriate for a particular school and identifying these…

Examines current debates on management competencies and reports that a growing number of schools are using competence-based approaches to management development. Evaluates standards-based approaches, particularly those associated with England's Management Charter Initiative and its school-management variant produced by School Management South.…

Staffordshire Local Education Authority and North Staffordshire Polytechnic have served both individual and joint interests by developing a program for potential head teachers that incorporates lectures and seminars, weekend schools where experts from educational and business administration illustrate good management, and summer schools devoted to…

Describes the Educative Leadership Project, a British program attempting to generate a new synthesis of experience, research, and theory on leadership and to develop complementary inservice and postgraduate learning materials for administrators. Discusses adult learning principles, relevant issues, project phases, and workshop procedures involved.…

Responding to recent British legislation recasting school governors' role, many local education agencies have implemented elaborate training and support systems for governors. This article discusses training and evaluation criteria issues in a Hampshire training program. Governors want more participation in training and more group- and issue-based…

Examines the concept of induction for beginning school managers and offers a series of alternative purposes, including remediation, orientation, and socialization. Distinguishes among three kinds of socialization (anticipatory, professional, and organizational). Precedes this discussion by considering various definitions of induction, along with…

Reviews management-competence and school-effectiveness research, explores similarities, and discusses each area's contribution to education management. A major problem for both approaches is finding a balance between general descriptions of good practice and the particular needs of specific schools at particular development stages. General…

Examines trainers' perceptions that head teachers present more problems as learners than other groups of managers. Partly because of professional isolation, secondary head teachers seem to have great difficulty with trainers' authority. Head teachers are frequently judgmental and resistant to experiential learning and personal change processes.…

The American Association of School Administrators is currently developing a National Executive Development Center for the professional development of senior school executives. The initial Texas site is expected to be joined with a consortium of six pilot sites. Describes the design assumptions of a diagnostic and professional development system.…

Reviews the relationship between the management of schools and the sociology of education in England. Recent developments include the establishment of national centers for school management studies and the availability of financing for attending courses. (MD)