One of the biggest obstacles to overcome in creating and sustaining an administrative professional learning community (PLC) is time. Administrators are constantly deluged by the tyranny of the urgent. It is a Herculean task to carve out time for PLCs, but it is imperative to do so. In this article, the authors describe how an administrative PLC…

States that school leadership, not management, is the linchpin of successful school reform. Describes differences between management and leadership. Recommends increased effort to develop school leaders focused on school reform. Offers three principles undergirding recommendations. (PKP)

It takes strong leadership skills to successfully run an entity as large and complex as an urban school district, much less turn around one that is low-performing. Most people don't realize that many urban school systems are as large as the biggest companies in America. Yet, most school district leaders and school board members have no specific…

Assuming the quality of the principal is directly linked to student learning and instruction, whose responsibility is it to develop building administrators to their fullest? This question is at the center of Principal Training on the Ground by Sandra Stein and colleagues from the School of Public Affairs at Baruch College of the City University of…

Describes the Teaching Assistant Principal program, developed by the Capistrano (California) Unified School District to identify, attract, and develop candidates for assistant-principal positions. Also describes the components of district principal-retention and development programs. (PKP)

Educational leadership needs to change. Principals have been trained to be managers first and leaders second. Current educational needs demand that principal-training priorities be reversed. (MD)

The author of "In Search of Excellence" states that the two most important characteristics of excellence are focusing on customers and providing superior quality and service. (MD)

The 1990 AASA Recognition Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Leadership Preparation by Colleges and Universities went to Boston Leadership Academy (Boston University) for its case study training methods applied to urban settings; and to the Meadows Principal Improvement Program (East Texas State University) for training experienced teachers to…

The 1988 American Association of School Administrators Leadership Development Awards went to North Gibson School Corporation (Princeton, Indiana) for a bottom-up approach to staff development called Teachers Teaching Teachers and to Duval County Public Schools (Jacksonville, Florida) for an innovative Principal Preparation Program. (MLH)

Describes a model leadership academy program at Topeka (Kansas) Public Schools in cooperation with Kansas State University. Created in 1987, the academy was designed to serve the school system's unique needs while fostering innovative educational experiences for administrator preparation. Includes four references. (MLH)

Although Seattle Public Schools needed additional training for its newly decentralized decision making to succeed, declining enrollments and escalating costs prevented the district from allocating necessary funding. Instead of asking the business community for money, the district asked for the time of their best managers to work with principals on…

Effective leadership programs have a clearly defined belief structure and a teaching team that provides direction for both the students and the program. Leadership can be learned, but it is a process, not a position. Like dart throwing, leadership skills can be taught if individuals are coached, have a chance to practice various skills, get…

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) Assessment Center Project expects to have 53 comprehensive centers in operation by June 1986. Behavior modeling is the training strategy for professional development, and research has confirmed that the process can help predict who will be a successful administrator. (MLF)

The Peer-Assisted Leadership (PAL) Program created at Far West Laboratory (San Francisco, California) gives principals and vice-principals a year-long professional development program to reduce their isolation and improve their instructional leadership performance through nonevaluative peer observation and reflection. A key element is challenge…

Crash courses, late-night reading, trusted advisors, and conversations with constituents are re-educating a new breed of superintendent after their years in the military, business, or law professions. Some nontraditional superintendents recruit outside talent for their chief education officers. Many are irritated by rules, but surprised at school…