Interviews with 39 vocational administrators and 73 instructors who worked with them revealed that successful administrators combined several forms of communication, used communication in a wide range of contexts, and integrated communication with a wide variety of leadership attributes. (SK)

Draws on a study of seven comprehensive high schools to examine how parents, pupils, and the local community view each schools' strengths. Factors affecting the community view of a particular school are background history, organization, community relationships, public relations policies, management style, and shared values. Reputation can lag many…

Examines how principals manage in situations that defy conventional administrative authority and methods. Fully 80% of the 30 Pennsylvania high school principals interviewed admitted using at least 1 micropolitical strategy, such as exchange theory, divide and conquer, information control, cooptation, displacement, and discretionary behavior. Most…

According to one study, hiring officials wishing to know administrator candidates' job skills cannot learn about them from administering the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and cannot learn much about personality preferences from NASSP Assessment Center data. Hiring officials should use multiple information sources, select appropriate measurement…

Somewhere between easygoing and hardboiled management extremes lies the realm of true leadership. An effective administrator gets results by leading people (not ordering them), learning how to handle them, and discovering what makes each one tick. A true leader captures and holds staff members' confidence, helps them develop needed skills, and…

Defines the concept of leadership. Reviews different theories of leadership and how they relate to outdoor leadership. The Conditional Outdoor Leadership Theory is a new approach to leadership based on applying the appropriate leadership style according to importance of task, group relationship, and level of conditional favorability. (LP)

Used Student Leadership Practices Inventory to survey fraternity and sorority presidents and executive committee members. Findings from 239 men and 389 women revealed that practices of effective student leaders did not vary according to gender. Effective leaders, both male and female, engaged in challenging, inspiring, enabling, modeling, and…

Explores the relationship between superintendent leadership and school districts' organizational culture, based on case studies of three successful Pennsylvania districts. Identifies leadership characteristics shared by these superintendents: espousing child- centered values; modeling district beliefs and values; and attending to educational…

Builds a case for studying principals' dilemmas, discusses lack of studies in non-Western contexts, and briefly reviews Hong Kong schooling reforms. Describes how 15 Hong Kong principals managed various dilemmas and the managerial consequences. Although dilemmas may be generic across cultures, their formation and management seem culturally…

Discusses a study that examined how a stratified random sample of California school administrators characterized their use of behavior strategies. Uses a four-approach framework and nine specific managerial functions to extract a total of 36 possible sets of behavior strategies. Principals perceived the human-resource approach as most extensively…

Reports results of interviews with principals, teachers, board members, parents, and students at British schools recognized as effective. Probes administrative complexities; proposes a values-led contingency leadership model that considers the realities of successful principalship in changing times and eschews polarized concepts of transactional…

Examines traditional staff management styles, and discusses the need for a new approach to school leadership, such as a weblike, interconnected organizational structure in which all parties, leaders and staff alike, work in collaboration to achieve the common good. Outlines the development and components of such a structure. (TJQ)

Builds upon the links being made between "feminine" styles and effective management. Five female headteachers of mixed (British) secondary schools in one shire county were interviewed and asked to identify their characteristics as leaders and managers. The picture that emerged was of an "androgynous" leader able to draw upon a…

Discusses results of 3-year study of the leadership of the principals of 4 Ontario secondary school involved in the Change Frames project, requiring each school to initiate change using each of 7 frames--purpose, emotions, politics, structure, culture, learning, and leadership. (Contains 18 references.) (PKP)

Forty-four chairpersons of departments judged by academic vice presidents at randomly selected institutions to be engaged in especially effective curriculum planning were interviewed about their roles. The interviews suggested seven leadership roles used in the curriculum development process; they varied by institutional type, department size, and…