This dissertation includes a report of the results of a quantitative and qualitative research project that examined the perceptions of 58 secondary general education administrators regarding the supervision and management of special education programs in their buildings. Data were gathered through an online survey that requested participants to…

This study examines the perceptions of secondary school principals in Pennsylvania with respect to teacher preparation. A review of recent education literature clearly supports the understanding that there is a national concern regarding student achievement and its importance in assuring that the United States can maintain its current position of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature on the many dimensions of the principal's positionality by using a unique research approach to link the experiences of the policy implementing principal to embodiment. Design/methodology/approach: The researchers employed a form of critical policy analysis that utilized…

In today's world, managing a campus crisis poses special challenges for an institution's governing board, which may operate some distance removed from the immediate events giving rise to the crisis. In its most challenging form, a campus crisis--a shooting, a natural disaster, a fraternity hazing death, the arrest of a prominent campus…

Today's school administrators and counselors recognize the continuing problem of aggression at recess, but struggle with how to respond to it. Given the wide range of possibilities, what can schools do to improve the playground environment? This article addresses that question and also offers a specific disciplinary model that can be applied to…

Educators are obliged to stand up for children--to point out when the self-declared local "education emperor" (or mayor or governor) has no clothes. The so-called reform government has turned some local districts into a Wild West where schools share no common or sequential curriculum and all that matters is test scores. Music educators must join…

True freedom and true peace are cousins, but they can only work together if the freedom of one people is seen in relation to the freedom of another. Struggles for freedom and peace can only enhance each other if the peace people seek is a robust harmony in which conflict is embraced and people are encouraged to imagine a far stronger freedom and…

The expectation that educators will use data in the service of school improvement and planning is a major feature of national and local reform agendas. Prior research has found that the principal plays a critical role in making policymakers' visions for data use a reality at the school and classroom levels. Most prior studies, however, have not…

The primary aim of this study was to explore the differences between teacher and administrator perceptions of bullying. Data were collected from 139 practicing educators and administrators who completed a survey regarding their perceptions of bullying in schools. Mann Whitney U tests were conducted to determine if perceptions of bullying varied…

Principals must cope with the pressures arising from accountability while enabling flexibility in teachers' work. How do principals manage these tensions when attempting to improve their schools? And where are these tensions most commonly centered? Both questions relate to "managerial ambidexterity," or how principals simultaneously…

Each year in American public schools, nearly 450,000 teachers leave their jobs (Johnson, Berg, & Donaldson, 2005). This means that one-sixth of all teachers either transfer to different schools/districts or leave the teaching profession altogether. One of the main factors contributing to teachers' decisions to remain at or leave their…

The pressure on higher education to become more innovative and effective with respect to its teaching and learning (T&L) mission is unceasing. Institutions are challenged to rethink how they perform this core mission. The campus IT organization, always of strategic importance, can become a key partner and facilitator in that process. Its…

This article presents a conceptual model of the field director's role outside of field education, specifically in the following 3 areas of leadership: (1) curricular, (2) programmatic, and (3) institutional. A survey was conducted to explore the field director's input targeted in these areas beyond prescribed field education tasks. The…

The purpose of this study was to identify effective leadership practices, processes, and strategies utilized by elementary school principals in low-achieving schools as well as to discuss and identify leadership practices as they emerged in the literature. Qualitative methods in the form of case studies of three elementary school principals…

This article examines the role of leadership in the development of academic talent in higher education from a social exchange and organizational support perspective. Drawing from a sample of academic staff at a large South African university, the study investigates the extent to which a quality leader-member exchange relationship versus a formal…