Research suggests that many early childhood program administrators enter into leadership roles by being promoted from teaching positions and few have prior education, training, or experience specific to leadership or management (Catron & Groves, 1999; Billman, 1995; Bloom & Rafanello, 1994). Many directors of early care and education…

This paper reports on an interview study with directors of Head Start and child care programs who are collaborating with local education authorities to provide publicly funded preschool in New Jersey, USA. A standardized interview protocol was utilized with 98 directors chosen to represent a range of center types from across the three main regions…

Since many senior academic administrators of colleges and universities first trained for academic careers in research and teaching, they have had minimal management training. Both academic and nonacademic officers with administrative experience find they must quickly develop the different knowledge and skills needed to manage an institution when…

The competence of directors and administrators of children's programs is very important to quality, and efforts that seek to bring directors and administrators more support and help them to develop their competencies are worth examination. This paper begins by briefly discussing "A Preliminary Overview of Director Credentialing…

In The Netherlands, school leaders are recruited from the ranks of teachers. More than half of the principals in primary and secondary schools are promoted from within the organization. A minority of schools have written policies or explicitly stated procedures for identifying and selecting principals. One-fourth of the newly appointed principals…

Every month, "Leadership" features articles written in an informal, conversational style that provide practical information for school administrators. This issue of "Leadership" contains the following titles: (1) "Building Communities of Practice: Creating Small Learning Communities of School Leaders that Support Teacher Development Has a…

This document consists of the two 1999 issues of a semiannual newsletter that provides current information and research on leadership and administrative issues in early childhood education. The Spring 1999 issue compares elementary schools and child care centers with regard to investments made in the professional development of teachers. The…

Describes how the Administrative Leadership Institute (ALI) was conceptualized, developed, and implemented over a three-year period in the Los Angeles Community College District to fulfill the need for a systematic midlevel-management-training program. The program's mission is to provide a supportive environment characterized by respect,…

Effective schools research demonstrates that school principals are an important factor in schools' success. Yet many factors of the job inhibit principals' learning. To help leaders, professional learning experiences should center around what we know about the difficulties of the job and how principals can better learn from their own experiences…

The results of a statewide survey of the professional preparation and current leadership practices of middle and intermediate school principals in relation to reading programs are described in this paper. The first section of the paper describes the survey questions in the areas of professional preparation of middle school principals, current…

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,…

Without proper background, education, guidance, and on-the-job training, a principal can create havoc within the school community. To safeguard against this potential problem, during the 1986-87 school year, the Polk County (Florida) Public Schools introduced a "principal intern" program to fully prepare its future school administrators.…

The present success and future potential of the Springfield Simulation depend on six interrelated research findings about adult learning.These findings, enumerated and discussed, provide the theoretical framework for Springfield. (TE)

This article treats specific areas in which the assessment center can make significant contributions to university programs in educational administration: personal-professional growth, contributions to the preparation program, and linkages with the field. (TE)

This brief introductory article describes the NASSP's Assessment Center Project, a comprehensive plan to assist school districts in identifying and developing highly skilled school leaders. As such, it introduces a series of articles in which those who have used the NASSP Assessment Center describe their experiences. (TE)