Following a professional program to ensure qualification for school leadership is a growing trend. However, school leaders have also come to understand and use content from educational programs in widely different ways. There is therefore a need to study how participating school principals experience learning differently within one and the same…

In the ESSA Leadership Learning Community (ELLC), education agency leaders, community organization leaders, and others have together taken on challenges facing schools and school leaders in their states. They have produced advice to state agencies on policy design and rollout, for example on official definitions of equity, on requirements for…

This article describes principals' centers and the principals' center movement, identifying key issues raised by them. Future directions and persistent questions for the principals' center movement are developed. (MT)

The Metropolitan Principals' Academy was formed in 1984 by eight suburban school districts in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in order to help administrators become more effective. The academy is described, and the research-based model of leadership which guides it is examined. (MT)

The Akron Public Schools conduct three interrelated programs for principals to ensure school improvement. They are Administrative Supervision Workshops, /I/D/E/A/ Principals Inservice Program, and Operation Curriculum for School Improvement. The programs, and how they overlap, are described. (MT)

"Even Champions Have Coaches" is a North Carolina program begun under the assumption that preparing principals as trainer/coaches for their peers would allow them to understand how change occurs in schools and increase the probability of successful implementation of state educational initiatives. (MT)

Describes a recent study of principals' evaluations and perceptions concerning the quality of inservice learning experiences based on five alternative models. Findings disclosed participants' preferences for short-term institutes sponsored by a professional association and informal networking. More work is needed to design effective inservice…

This article describes the complex nature of the principal's job and discusses four programs that help principals acquire the skills needed to be successful. These programs are (1) Peer Assisted Leadership (PAL); (2) Cognitive Coaching; (3) Developmental Supervision; and (4) Differentiated Supervision. (MT)

A clinically-based innovative principalship program developed by the University of Alabama is described and selected elements are highlighted to illustrate potential problems in establishing and conducting clinical administrator preparation programs. University-based issues discussed include unclear knowledge base, lack of program structure and…

Educational Leadership students need to spend significant time in authentic school contexts working alongside well-prepared mentor principals to be adequately prepared for complex leadership roles. Through carefully-designed internships, students link school leadership theory from academic coursework with actual improvisational practice. This type…

This report describes the origin, purposes, and operation of the North Carolina Leadership Institute for Principals. Initiated in July 1979 by the State Superintendent for Public Instruction and supported by state funds, the institute develops programs that blend theory into practice, concentrating mainly on the development of leadership,…

This study describes a school-university collaboration involving a number of professional development schools in Israel and examines the efficacy of such collaborations. A government agency requested that a university researcher plan and implement collaborative programs. The program determined to include a heterogeneous group of schools, selected…

Although effective schools research has indicated the need for an added emphasis on increasing student achievement within a satisfying learning climate, the issue of how best to implement this research has been perplexing for both researchers and practitioners. Different approaches are being tried in two rural Saskatchewan school divisions. In…

This document is a practical guide for designing principal-development programs. The target audience includes individuals involved in the design and implementation of principal-preparation and development programs, particularly at the school-district level. Chapter 1, "The Call for New School Leaders and Leadership Development," expresses the need…

This paper describes a model program for training pre-service elementary and secondary school principals in educationally sound and legally defensible inclusion programs extending to students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD). The program has three major objectives: (1) to train pre-service school administrators (principals and…