Case study from the Providence, Rhode Island School District demonstrates how an outside planning group acted as the instrument for organizational change, while the superintendent provided the impetus for change. Reveals how internal and external factors influence decision making. (APM)

Describes a weekend conference that brought together board members, central office administrators, and building-level administrators to examine the self-images of these people and how such images conflicted or were congruent with expectations and desires held by others. (Author/IRT)

A study was conducted to determine if a relationship existed between variables describing the role and role expectation of Black school superintendents and the relative importance of immediate and future school-related problems. The strongest predictors of problem importance were years in position and school district size. (Author/MH)

Follow-up study of 16 Indiana high schools disclosed that 10 years of discussion and practice yielded little progress. Modest gains included microscopically better new teacher training, slightly reduced class size, and more administrative support. Teachers in other disciplines remained indifferent to student writing problems and equally resistant…

Young was the first woman to head a large city school system, the first woman to serve as head of a large teachers college, and the first woman president of the National Education Association. Her visionary accomplishments offer inspiration for current women administrators to continue in the quest to improve education. (LSR)

Details a strategy for district improvement that establishes discernible parameters and then provides each school with the autonomy to chart its own course and lists four steps toward team engagement. Also former Principal Rebecca Burnette DuFour discusses how the central office can best promote learning communities. (MLF)

Describes a comparative case study of three Georgia districts with demonstrated improvement in student achievement over three years. Shows how these districts created a climate for professsional dialogue, provided supervisory support, and welcomed leadership from various sources. Superintendents and central office staff were key facilitators of…

An effective way to prepare for school budget presentations is to research accurate responses to "hot issues." Lists the 24 questions most frequently asked at public budget hearings; and outlines a generic response to each of the 10 toughest questions. (MLF)

Summarizes demographic data from the 1989 survey of school executives on the sex, race, age, compensation, years in current position, working hours, and career plans of responding superintendents and principals. (MLF)

Of a representative sampling of 1,509 administrators nationwide who responded to the 1989 survey of school executives, only 254 (17 percent) are women, and only 101 (7 percent) are minorities. The differences marked by gender and race are accentuated in small town and rural districts. (MLF)

The specific steps involved in developing an evaluation system for use with school business officials include: (1) purposes of evaluation; (2) cycle to be followed; (3) criteria; (4) types and numbers of performance objectives; (5) data to be used; and (6) procedures to be used in conducting both formative and summative evaluation. (MLF)

A ratio comparing the number of administrators in central offices with those outside central offices was used nationwide in 1988 to assess decentralization in large school districts. Sixteen of 62 districts were decentralized. The same survey in 1980 revealed 39 of 65 districts were decentralized. Decentralization is decreasing as an…

More superintendents are growing disillusioned and retreating to become principals, curriculum directors, or assistant superintendents. A California study showed that nearly 14% of superintendents assumed a lesser position rather than retiring. This article profiles former superintendents who blame unresponsive communities, inadequate preparation,…

External reviews performed in two southeastern school systems are described. The reviews were designed to examine the perceptions that people had about school counseling services, and each review included surveys of students, parents, and teachers, and interviews with counselors and principals. From these, a profile was created for each system to…