This book explores the new roles required of principals of dynamic schools. The first chapter examines the following forces that shape principals' activities: teachers are becoming teacher-leaders; parents are more vocal and action-oriented advocates; student bodies are more diverse; the social and technological contexts of schools are more…

Written for the general student, this book is designed to serve as an introduction to the subject of leadership, with a focus on psychological studies of leadership behavior. Part 1 addresses different aspects of the view that "leadership is a process, not a position." Chapters examine how leadership develops, how it is measured or assessed, how…

Learning from job experiences is essential for every manager's development. Managers learn best from challenging experiences, when employing a variety of learning experiences, and when employing strategies that coordinate what they want to learn with challenges likely to teach these lessons. Becoming a more versatile learner is essential. There…

Ways in which to stimulate an in-depth analysis of school finances are presented. The text is intended for a wide audience and can be utilized as a college-level text or as supplemental material. Nine chapters discuss a variety of topics of interest to public administrators: politics and school finance, including overviews of departments of…

This paper describes a practicum that was designed to increase the efficacy of assistant principals as members of an administrative team in a learning organization. The 1-year practicum took place at a grades 8 to 12 public school facility in a rural community. The problems facing the school principal, who designed the practicum were that the two…

Numerous dysfunctions result from bureaucratic school organization, including an overemphasis on specialized tasks, routine operating rules, and formal procedures for managing teaching and learning. Such schools are characterized by numerous regulations; formal communications; centralized decision making; and sharp distinctions among…

Six schools in an urban school system with varying socioeconomic backgrounds were evaluated to determine what impact different instructional leadership styles have on student achievement. Since the principal is usually considered the instructional leader, the study focused on principal leadership styles, with principals categorized into three main…

Findings from a study that examined ways in which principals implement new or revised curricula are presented in this paper, which focuses on how personal constructs influence the curriculum implementation process. Data about principals' implementation styles were obtained from interviews with 10 principals and 10 female teachers, inschool…

A competency-based educational administration program that focuses on the development of administrator/community relations is described in this paper, which is based on the premise that a cooperative relationship is necessary for effective school administration. The course is described in terms of objectives, competencies, methodology, structure,…

Efforts to find reasons and to affix blame for educational deficiencies have included some severe criticisms of educational administration. The purpose of this paper is to examine, factually and objectively, six different assertions about school administration that have appeared in the popular media to see whether each assertion is true or false.…

The changing role of the local school district superintendent is examined in this paper, which focuses on the link between the local education executive officers and school effectiveness. It is argued that the concept of the superintendency has changed from that of a manager to that of the leader of school district quality and effectiveness. Four…

Findings from a longitudinal case study that explored the relationship between principals' supervisory practices and school success in meeting long-range planning goals are presented in this paper. Methodology involved a questionnaire, interviews, and observations of five elementary school principals in Riverside County, California. Findings…

This exploratory study investigated which characteristics of a principal are identified as effective by teachers in the same school setting. The data were obtained from the Schools and Staffing Study of 1988, from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The Teacher Questionnaire of the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) questioned…

Effective administrator preparation programs and professional practices are important to enhancing principals' knowledge base. In chapter 1 of this report, "Strategies of Organizing Principal Preparation: A Survey of the Danforth Principal Preparation Program," Gerald C. Ubben and Frances C. Fowler discuss their survey of facilitators of the…

The Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU) School of Education offers an educational administration program for students seeking a master's degree or licensure in educational administration. Most of the students are teachers from New Mexico and surrounding states who plan to become administrators at small and rural schools. In 1987, the New Mexico…