Describes strategies library director Dan Wilson used to keep the New Orleans Public Library ahead of budget shortfalls. Successful lobbying efforts to get a tax levy; growth in the library budget, technology, and services; changes in the service population; and Wilson's role as a facilitator are covered. (KRN)

Describes the methods and results of a major research effort which sought to identify and verify dimensions of educational leadership. Staff development implications are explored that could improve the effectiveness of educational leaders. (GLR)

Investigates how school organizational culture is related to important organizational characteristics and how the profiles of strong culture-effective schools differ from those of weak culture-inefficient schools, in terms of organizational variables, teachers' job attitudes, and school effectiveness criteria. The survey of 54 randomly sampled…

Micropolitics is the use of formal and informal power by groups and individuals to achieve their goals in organizations. Article summarizes findings of study examining 1,200 teachers' perspectives on the everyday strategies that principals use to influence them. Data from 826 teachers describing open and effective principals suggest that such…

Examines how a new principal at a historically low-performing high school brought about changes in the school culture and in student achievement. Describes how the principal emphasized achievement at the highest levels through heroes and heroines, rites and rituals, stories, governance and leadership, symbols, enforcing expectations, and serving…

Over 800 American teachers responded to an open-ended questionnaire by identifying and describing characteristics of principals that enhanced their classroom instruction and what influences these characteristics had on them. The data revealed 11 strategies and 2 effective-leadership themes: talking with teachers to promote reflection and promoting…

Describes one principal's caring and empowering practices in interacting with students through specific interviews and observations. Her approach is analyzed in terms of the components of empowerment through caring rather than control. The data of this study are also related to existing literature on caring. (MMU)

When administrators put their ideas into writing, they produce a durable public record. An administrator's paper trail should compliment rather than haunt its creator. Effective communicators treat writing as a reflective process that helps sharpen and clarify ideas and considers both audience and purpose. (Contains 17 references.) (MLH)

Twelve hundred teachers answered open-ended questions on the strategies that school principals use to influence them. Data from 836 teachers who described their principals as open and effective suggest that the strategic orientation of effective principals (normative-instrumental leadership) has positive impacts on teacher work involvement.…

Describes a study seeking to develop a theory of instructional leadership grounded in interview data from practicing administrators and their teachers. Effective elementary instructional leaders engaged in various strategies designed to balance power inequities in their school community. They exemplified the use of collaborative power based on…

Interviews with 149 Ohio educators asked about the characteristics of successful school administrators and compared results to a similar 1987 study. Being supportive, fair, friendly, considerate, and organized appear to be timeless in importance, while being a strong disciplinarian and visible in the school may be characteristics more reflective…

Describes the origins and evolution of a framework for leadership and management development in Scottish schools. The design of this competence framework is underpinned by a professional-development model supporting experiential learning and critical reflection. Calls for a synthesis of various approaches to management development based on a…

Examination of instructional leadership organized into four sections: Reflections on school leadership, definitions of instructional leadership, reviews of two empirical studies on instructional leadership, and conclusions about the development of instructional leaders. (Contains 44 references.) (PKP)

Argues that secondary and post secondary academic department chairs are both managers and leaders whose real work is to manage conversational inquiry that engages others in creating possibilities, breakthroughs, and a sustainable future for their common enterprise. Describes leadership capabilities demanded by this work; well-honed communication…

A study of Chicago school reform revealed that principals of productive elementary schools skillfully use various strategies to promote parents' and teachers' work with children. These include resolving highly visible problems quickly, focusing on the instructional core, adopting strategic orientation, attacking incoherence, involving parents, and…