As confirmed by two case studies of pilot IPI programs conducted September through December, 1967 in two elementary schools in New Jersey, participation in the innovation of Individually Prescribed Instruction requires a certain level of commitment by school district administrators, principals, and teachers. One of the pilot schools was graded…

In his role as the manager of educational change, the secondary school principal is responsible for determining programs and procedures, enlisting teacher aid in those determinations, resolving staff resistance to change, identifying staff members as effective change agents, and working with them to implement change. To produce significant gains…

The plan proposed in this report gives elected community boards of education the responsibility and authority to meet particular educational needs of their communities, including in the special area of low academic achievement. The proposal is in the form of a guideline and covers such areas as selection of community boards; parent participation;…

The author discusses several major issues facing the nation that he feels necessitate new roles for schools and administrators. He claims that there are no more important decisions made by the board of education than the one concerning the selection and employment of a superintendent and the establishment of his working conditions, since it is he…

This report contains articles that provide guidelines for running board of education meetings and discusses the roles of superintendents and boards in decision making. The articles discuss (1) the public relations value of well-run board meetings, (2) the importance of following good parliamentary procedure, and (3) the preparation and…

This report encourages goal and standard setting for administrators and administrator participation in the appraisal process. The first section outlines the weaknesses of present evaluation systems. The second section, which deals with a goal-oriented system, discusses the philosophy behind the system, the standards of performance, and the…

Occupational status of local education agency coordinators of special education (N=16), local education agency central office administrators (N=13), and university professors of special education (N=14) who served as due process hearing officers in Alabama did not affect their placement decisions after reading vignettes describing problem children…

As a basis for interpreting scholarly work on the Black school superintendent, the article does the following: (1) outlines African American history; (2) discusses the political context of the struggle for Black education and the importance of the Black superintendency to it; and (3) develops a framework for the future success of Black…

"Alabama Education News" is published monthly except for June, July, and December by the Alabama Department of Education. This publication, authorized by Section 16-2-4 of the "Code of Alabama", as recompiled in 1975, is a public service of the Alabama Department of Education designed to inform citizens and educators about…

Public education in Sweden and the United States has long been viewed as a critical social investment that fires the engines of economic productivity and social progress. This paper presents the findings of two studies that examined superintendents' self-descriptions of their administrative work, particularly in the areas of instructional…

Passage in 1989 of Oklahoma's education reform bill, H.B. 1017, provided encouragement and financial rewards for use of consolidation as a reform strategy, but this approach is often met with anxiety and hostility from stakeholders. In an effort to identify strategies that facilitate consolidation, semistructured interviews were conducted with the…

This study examined the perceptions of school board chairs and teacher leaders regarding the work-related behaviors of Alabama's elected and appointed local school superintendents. A mailed survey sought information on: demographics; work-related behaviors identified as essential for successful school system leadership; perceptions of…

This paper discusses the 21st century urban school superintendency, noting new challenges for urban superintendents. Currently, schools are much larger, media coverage is extensive, racial minorities settle most often in the city, and cities cope with vast social problems. School boards have an enormous effect on the success or failure of…

The purpose of this paper is to examine--using single-case qualitative ethnographic methods--how an urban superintendent responded to a "crisis in representation" with the intent that such an examination will be instructive for other superintendents faced with similar challenges. opens with a description of methodology followed by a brief…

This report describes a study that examined the superintendency in American public schools. It begins with an overview of the current state of the superintendency, focusing on the pressures of the job, the high turnover rate among superintendents, and the lack of qualified candidates to fill openings. The report continues with a brief review of…