We describe the contours of one leadership preparation partnership between a university and urban high school district, to demonstrate the affordances that have allowed the partnership to process and weather challenges. Critically, we describe the actual work of collaboration, presenting one extended example of learning-in-action. As such, the…

Characteristics that contribute to successful redesign and launch of principal preparation programs may be understood collectively as the capacity of those programs. A model of capacity for redesign of principal preparation programs should strike a balance between the technical and professional aspects of teaching and leadership and the cultural…

The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of postgraduate leadership courses and programs offered by Australian Higher Education Institutions for leaders and potential leaders in the Health & Human Service (H&HS) sector including structure, content, and teaching practices from the perspective of educators. Ten educators from a…

This article shares rationales for group dissertations and offers practical descriptions of how they transpire in one Doctor of Education (EdD) program. Drawing on program experiences and data, it considers how group dissertations promote leadership learning and EdD program proposes using Archbald's criteria of developmental efficacy, intellectual…

This study examines the work completed by a regional, comprehensive university's principal preparation program in redesigning their curriculum for greater coherence. Their process for identifying equity as a program theme and explicitly addressing learning related to program themes is described. Key steps in the process include: (1) collaborating…

Leadership preparation is essential in developing critical skills of effective school leaders. Educational leadership preparation programs vary greatly in terms of program features, it is important to identify which specific elements are likely associated with program quality. Using multiple years of Initiative for Systemic Program Improvement…

Schools now face a sea of "evidence"--supposedly validated products, research findings, and test, demographic, and teacher-generated data--that leaders must use. How have recent reforms to educational doctorate (EdD) programs addressed these demands? Case studies of four exemplary EdD programs illustrate how the better ones help…

This qualitative study describes and interprets how two educational leadership programs, participants in the UCEA (University Council for Educational Administration) Program Design Network Improvement Community, identified and responded to a problem of practice by focusing on the needs of each program regarding the recruitment, selection,…

This study examines students' perceptions of an Educational Leadership Doctoral Program's redesign, based on a multi-criteria framework that informed the program's core values and beliefs to prepare students to: (a) lead learning organizations; (b) engage ethically with the community; (c) advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion; and (d)…

What makes a leadership preparation program exemplary? All three exemplary programs featured in this special issue evidence strong learning orientations and more sustained improvement work in their pursuit of exemplary preparation. I therefore examine exemplary preparation from a process perspective that emphasizes continuous improvement. To help…

In this case study, we explore how principal candidates made sense of their internship by analyzing their weekly reflections during a school year. We found that candidates' views of leadership developed from viewing leadership solely through the lens of making decisions and providing direction, to recognizing that much of the work of a school…

The field of educational leadership has also come to recognize the central importance of improving the quality of leadership preparation across leaders' careers, including at the doctoral level, for strengthening equitable teaching and learning in schools. What do doctoral programs that strive to realize such equity goals do? With what results? In…

The researchers explored educational leadership program coordinator (PC) roles in developing university-K-12 school district partnerships. Little is known in regards to the PC's role in educational leadership preparation programs, and there is even less evidence of the PC's role in K-12 school district partnership development. This burden appears…

Developing effective educational leaders is fundamentally and irrevocably an interpersonal, relational process--one that requires face-to-face contact, deep thought, deliberation, reflection, engagement, and interaction. It requires cultivation of the habits of heart, mind, and soul. For nearly a decade, the faculty at North Carolina State…

There is a pervasive and ongoing perception that leadership preparation is a problem. Important questions remain about the intentions, capacity, and impact of state departments of education engaged in leadership preparation program redesign. In this essay, I take up several issues concerning this state policy work, including whether a one size…