Principals who are strong, effective, responsive leaders help to inspire and enhance the abilities of their teachers and other school staff to do excellent work. Such principals also tend to retain great teachers and create opportunities for them to take on new leadership roles. This leads to the following key question: What can state policymakers…

Through its engagement with grantees on initiatives to improve school leadership, The Wallace Foundation came to recognize the important role that state organizations play in advancing effective leadership in districts and schools as well as the importance of coordination among state- and district-level policies. The authors have recently…

This book presents a framework for administrator peer evaluation within school districts that is already at work and succeeding. The evaluation design emphasizes results, promotes professional growth and development, models expectations for students and teachers, and meets Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium standards. Chapter 1…

This text presents a model that systemically relates professional development and evaluation in an appraisal of educational leadership personnel. Developmentally, appraisal is seen as a diagnostic, relatively non-judgmental system by which educational administrators gather data about their professional performance and growth. Evaluatively,…

Suggests areas to be included in administrative training, including administrative evaluation, implications of the changing nature of secondary education, ways in which schools and their structures can influence pupils' social development, and organizational theory. (Author/WD)

This publication contains five chapters that focus on individual perspectives of reform in administrator-preparation programs. In "One Person's Links Between Administration and the Academy," Ann Weaver Hart offers a self-study that views administrative leadership as an ongoing process of social validation and socialization. Diana G. Pounder, in…

This report is designed for use by those specializing in the preparation of elementary and middle school principals and by those whose focus is on the inservice aspects of professional development. The paper identifies the proficiencies for K-8 principals and groups them into four major categories. The report elaborates on these categories,…

While pressures to revise administrator evaluation systems are increasing, the actual process demands great time, energy, and commitment to planned change. This article describes a large urban school district's efforts to redefine evaluation purposes, develop a process and principles, and implement and assess the new system. Includes 23…

This document considers several aspects of the use of assessment centers for the evaluation of school principals. Citing the literature, the document defines the assessment center concept, and describes the operation of a typical four-day assessment program. The paper also recounts efforts to ascertain the reliability of assessment results,…

It is argued that administrators cannot increase their administrative capabilities in isolation from the rest of the institution. The motivation to achieve a high level of competence must be supported at the institutional level. An approach to the simultaneous development of administrators and institutions is outlined. (Author/JMD)

Although the initial focus of the reform movement was on teachers, considerable attention has been devoted to administrators--especially principals--since it has been recognized that the quality of a principal's leadership has a significant impact on the effectiveness of the educational programs in our schools. The purpose of this guide is to…

The complete process of initiating and monitoring an evaluation program is presented, noting that the ability to assess the performance of administrators and implement programs to enhance their skills and abilities is essential to the effective management of higher learning institutions. Such field tested resources as evaluation forms, performance…

This paper briefly describes the rationale, aims, and proposed activities of an instructional management academy conducted by the Instructional Management Program at Far West Laboratory. The first academy, conducted during the 1983-1984 school year, allowed participating principals to analyze their management behavior, receive support and insight…

Thirteen ideas for marketing and implementing the assessment center concept are presented. These call for a primary focus on individuals and on excellence, preparation and organization, assessor training, assessor newsletters, accessible locations, a statewide advisory board, an action plan, confidentiality, both causal and formal meetings,…

A principal and assessor for an Alabama school system describes the professional benefits of her experience with the NASSP Assessment Center Project: peer interaction, informal exchanges, and close personal contact with five other practicing administrators. (TE)