Considers the view of school governance propounded by OFSTED (British Ministry of Education), via publications on governing bodies' role, inspection reports on individual schools, and Her Majesty's Chief Inspector's annual reports. Statements in these documents project an "official" view of school governors' role, with significant…

This 1997-98 survey reports $82,339 as the mean of the average salaries paid to assistant superintendents and $67,724 as the mean of the average salaries paid to directors of finance and business in (responding) U.S. school systems. Generally, the annual salaries for chief business officials have kept pace with those of classroom teachers and…

The superintendent of Coventry (Rhode Island) Schools explains how he converted annual town meetings from uncivil, interminable budget-slashing sessions to expressions of community support for student-centered reforms and a construction/renovation bond issue. The board grasped assessment difficulties by taking state-mandated tests for…

Some board members may not have considered whether e-mail is subject to state statutes ensuring that public business is done publicly. E-mail has great potential for exposing a district to liability. Sample open-meeting and/or public-record laws from several states, including California, Florida, and Virginia, are discussed. (MLH)

Describes the substantive changes made by Superintendent John Stanford in the Seattle public school system over the last two years. (LMI)

A recent investigation into school development plans in (British) primary schools concerned the involvement of governors in the design and implementation process. There were variations both within and between schools in the amount and nature of governor involvement. There is scope for governing bodies to fulfill their roles in providing a…

Summarizes a study investigating teachers,' principals,' and superintendents' perceptions of leadership by analyzing qualitative data collected from three focus groups of seven participants apiece. All three groups had similar value systems, but differed greatly in skill and knowledge domains. Teachers stressed the personality perspective;…

By fashioning a blended approach, two superintendents in radically different school districts systematically distinguished what worked and what was worth promoting from what was failing and had to be revised or eliminated. They both established credibility by encouraging teachers and principals to examine their practice, consider new ways of…

School administrators' pathway to career advancement is littered with potholes, some relating to individual deficiencies and others to unpredictable influences. Five leadership elements (sensitivity to others' needs, environmental adaptability, style flexibility, locus of control, and possession of an intelligent, balanced demeanor) help translate…

Many of the problems school reform is expected to solve are aggravated by the ways schools use reform. Macro-level innovations are rarely designed to work. Meaningful change requires time and focus. Reforms may be more about politics than about change. A constant churn of policy change and reform has become the norm. (SK)

Studied the policies and practices used by school systems in Alberta, Canada, to evaluate principals. Responses from nearly all superintendents and a sample of recently appointed principals and interviews with 10 superintendents and 10 principals show substantial diversity in evaluation practices and some constraints on the evaluation function.…

School board presidents today operate in an era of consensual leadership and must play many roles. A former school board chairman developed a three-part conceptual framework. Thirteen practices are listed for board presidents. A sidebar summarizes findings from a study of 45 superintendents about the role of the school board chairman. (MLF)

Although shared decision making wasn't always Harold Boyden's first priority during his 30 years as a Vermont district leader, he always sought out his staff's ideas. Boyden believes in picking his fights, knowing when to compromise, and delegating when appropriate. He prefers to spread out budgeting ownership, responsibility, and commitment. (MLH)

Educational leaders must reexamine the ethical dimensions of their profession to confront complex moral challenges associated with changing school demographics (increasing poverty and ethnic diversity), inequitable conditions, administrative decision-making clout, and crumbling social institutions. Superintendents must be moral leaders who embody…

Surveyed 200 superintendents in 15 U.S. states about parent involvement policies and programs. Found that the most commonly reported policies were to communicate with parents about their child's progress and school programs and to provide parents with opportunities to be decision makers. Districts with greater percentages of at-risk students were…