This paper reports the results of a questionnaire distributed to all Philadelphia secondary school principals (with returns from 68 percent), eliciting their reactions to various aspects of the transfer to them of line authority for building engineers. Responses indicate that the process of assuming supervisory responsibility was not yet complete,…

A description is given of a project, called "A Collaborative Approach to Leadership in Supervision," initiated between the University of New Hampshire and several public schools. This project was designed to address: (1) the continuing preparation of principals who have primary responsibility for supervising and evaluating teachers as…

Analysis of the responses to telephone and personal interviews by 21 teacher supervisors from six school districts in Pennsylvania revealed three possible patterns of direct supervision of teachers. "Nominal" supervision consists of voicing compliance with statutory requirements for observation of teaching, a clear focus on identifying…

The importance of evaluating student interns as part of a regular performance appraisal system for all employees is discussed, along with the role of the internship coordinator or faculty sponsor. The first step is deciding what should be measured: interns' personal characteristics, job performance, and results. The most useful form of performance…

The strategy of diagnostic supervision, and the diagnostic conference, are outlined in this paper. Diagnostic supervision involves the supervisor and teachers in a process of recognizing needs, stating problems, and agreeing on objectives for the teachers' instructional improvement. The diagnostic conference, one tool used within the process,…

The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) School Heads Advisory Committee has compiled this guide as a selected, annotated listing of professional organizations, leadership programs, and publications that have been found valuable by school heads in thinking about and carrying out their leadership roles. Each entry in the first two…

Instructional supervision, despite the lack of evidence for its value, can potentially help improve instruction and promote educators' professional growth. To realize this potential, schools should analyze their supervisory practice according to these four premises: (1) that each school district and each school has unique organizational…

In this fifth annual yearbook of the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science, nineteen persons who have been active in science education over the past 25 years have contributed their personal recollections about changes they have seen in science teacher education or in curriculum and instruction in science. The articles include: (1)…

Given the increasing number and the complexity of the problems facing a school principal today, it is imperative that he be given all the help possible to aid him in making wise decisions. The application of the renewal process, as described in this document, provides the principal with shared problem solving and decision making machinery. This…

Underscoring the need for improved supervision and evaluation policies as a means of increasing public confidence in the quality of education in Massachusetts public schools, this yearbook presents six articles describing supervision and evaluation innovations. Specific topics include a summary of recommendations compiled by the Study Committee in…

This paper describes attempts to evaluate whether teachers who had participated in a staff development program could apply what they had learned in a controlled, specific situation significantly better than teachers who had not had the training. The program under evaluation provided training in peer supervision and evaluation. Test results…

Extrinsic job characteristics focus on the work environment and include working conditions, co-worker relations, supervision, company policy, salary, and job security. Intrinsic characteristics deal with the content and tasks involved in the job as well as opportunities provided for self expression and self actualization, e.g. the type of work…

The purpose of this study is to describe a positive supervisory experience from the supervisor's point of view. Four field interviews with supervisors responsible for training and evaluating professionals were subjected to phenomenological content analysis. Unlike the methods of experimental science, phenomenological analysis seeks to determine…

This study investigated teachers' perceived job satisfaction in relation to their work and the supervision they received from the principal. Surveys were collected from 682 teachers from 41 central Texas school districts. The instrument used to evaluate teacher perception of job satisfaction and supervision was the Job Descriptive Index (JDI). The…