The author's superintendency has been like a good marriage. Both she and the school community feel blessed to have had a true partnership built on mutually held beliefs and convictions, and to have had an opportunity to dream and make their dreams come true. Like most marriages, however, it has been a tremendous amount of work as they have…

This study focuses on the narratives of two women leaders, one of whom continues to work as a community college president and another who made the transition from a community college presidency to the directorship of a continuing education division of a large, state research university. The women were first interviewed in 2000 when they discussed…

The purpose of this article is to provide a new perspective on the intricacies of the work life in schools that motivate and satisfy teachers. The authors review the literature related to the improvement of school environments and the concept of "flow" as defined by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi (1990). He describes flow as a "state in which people are…

When the author became the principal of Citrus Middle School in 1998, it was the lowest performing school in the district. Students from Citrus were viewed as largely under-prepared, often read below grade level, had high drop-out rates, and were responsible for a significant amount of the gang activity on the school campus. She was also told that…

In the early seventies, little thought was given to the role of the college counselor in independent schools. Often they were English teachers who wrote well and by default were asked to take on the daunting task of shepherding students through the process of choosing a college. As faculty, they had little training in the development of…

The focus of this research was on the nature and characteristics of effective leadership and management practices in centre-based child care. This paper is part of a larger doctoral study with a focus on management within child care centres. Eight directors were interviewed in south east Queensland, Australia using a case study methodology. There…

From a case study looking at continuing professional development (CPD) within a rural primary school cluster, teachers' views of the way their needs were met, what controlled their CPD, and the impact of school and system needs on their CPD experiences were analysed. This confirmed the existence of tensions between these levels of need in relation…

Electronic technology can be used to overcome many of the barriers and other factors that restrict delivery of services to rural schools; it can also expand the world of rural gifted students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Online college and high school Web sites that offer courses are listed, as well as a Web site for tutoring and one offering…

The job of the early childhood director requires becoming comfortable in performing a wide variety of tasks. Being a director demands skills in many different areas, as well as the ability to focus one's attention in many directions at once. This is the broad description of the director's job, but very little attention has been focused on the…

This article begins with a discussion of the political and ideological dimensions of culture, cultural difference, and labeling. The authors follow with the assertion that administrator's beliefs, as expressions of personal values, are connected to their instructional behaviors and their leadership roles in schools (Hart Bredeson, 1996).…

This paper presents the research and methodology and analyses used for the "Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades" research. This appendix contains the following sections: (1) Overview; (2) Constructing the Survey Data File; (3) Constructing Composite Independent Variables (Subdomains); (4) Constructing Longitudinal Outcome Variables; (5)…

In 2004 the Missouri Professors of Educational Administration (NPEA) identified principals who had guided their schools to improved student achievement and/or maintained high levels of achievement.

This paper investigates the relationship between innovative leadership preparation and teacher outcomes, building on prior research on the effects of preparation on leadership and effects of leadership on teacher outcomes by drawing on two different teacher samples (Stanford University-based study of innovative programs and the SASS teacher…

In many schools and districts, leaders are lacking the necessary skills and preparation for the roles to which they are assigned. Improving the preparation of school and district leaders prior to hiring or promotion can help schools and districts accomplish the following goals: (1) Meet the growing need for highly qualified leaders; (2) Raise…

School communities feel pressure to dramatically improve the educational experience of students and principals are confronted with the need to lead their staff and community in examining current practice and implementing changes that respond to these demands. Leading school change is one of the most complex tasks faced by a school leader. The…